Incarnadine
by TNWanderer
Summary: Zero Kiryuu is a Chief Inspector working in the Homicide. A series of gruesome murders make him face his greatest enemy, Kaname Kuran, with whom he shared a dreaded past. Crime-Yaoi ON HIATUS!
1. From the Sea of the Dead

**Incarnadine**

A Vampire Knight Fan Fiction

**Disclaimer:** Obviously, I do not own Vampire Knight...

**Pairing:** Possible Kaname/Zero

**Summary: **Zero Kiryuu is a Chief Inspector working in the Homicide. A series of gruesome murders make him face his greatest enemy, Kaname Kuran, with whom he shared a dreaded past. Will the Pureblood Leader be of an unexpected help or will they dig each other's graves?

**Warnings:** Detailed depiction of a murder scene and autopsy, morbidity, AU, some Canon facts about vampires are altered for the story's purposes, not Beta-ed, slow plot development, and a few grammatical mistakes, maybe XD.

**AN:** The themes of the murder scenes that I will use in this fic were initially formed for a Death Note fic when I and **DaniellaAnderson** had a chat. She inspired these scenes in me with one of her DN plot ideas. Great thanks for my friend **Ayakashi** for sharing her ideas on them. So, credit goes to them for being lovely muses! This fan fiction is a dedication to my friend **Archer.000** who encouraged me to write it.

I hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 1: From the Sea of the Dead**

The heavy rain pelted against the front door of the speeding car. The waning night was a blur of shadows and street lights, the stubbornly clinging smell of tobacco with that of the newly wet leather inside the classic Mustang didn't help with the growing headache the driver felt pounding in his temples. How many hours did he sleep again? Maybe only three or four, he presumed with a dissatisfied scowl on his face. The persistent rain had been there before he literally collapsed in his bed, and it didn't seem to go away any time soon.

The approaching morning couldn't find even an inch of clear sky to actually dawn, but he thought it was indeed better like this, since he hated the bright orange glow that tried to find a way for itself through the heavy clouds, creating a sickly mix of grays, blues and reds at the edge of the dark horizon that only reminded him the fact that he didn't get enough sleep this night again.

He was driving speedily through the suburbia, towards the more industrialized, and thus, the dirtier, lonelier and soulless part of the city. He knew he had to be quick. At least, it was still early -maybe too early- morning and this part of the city was less populated; hence there was nearly no traffic at all. Though it was nearly impossible to go with the speed he was going even under these conditions, excluding the constant companionship of the rain, this was nothing for him.

Old, worn out buildings that passed for small factories or workshops lined on either side of the main road; all dirty beyond salvation, all lonely, drenched in grime and accumulated weariness, barely standing under the pelting rain that did anything but clean away the misery clinging like a second layer of paint on their walls.

The scene had a sense of melancholy continuation, as if the time was stopped and this place only went on simply existing, hollowed out of its meaning, purpose, and life. _Just like I am... _It gave a depressive feeling, yet he didn't feel out of place at all.

He _tsked_ when his cell went off for the third time since he opened his groggy eyes that night.

"Dammit, Shishou..." He swore whilst squinting his blood shot eyes hard to find the door number he had been looking for from the blurred side window.

"I am practically flying here..."

It was a rare occurrence for a Superintendent to be present in a crime scene, so as soon as his Superintendent woke him up in the middle of the night, he understood that it was a _special_ case and only a few higher ups were present in their department to shoe away the unwanted attention. The address that his Superintendent gave him was at the other end of the city. Though it was not in their _apparent_ polling area, _the Bureau_ was responsible to cover the whole city.

Zero knew that by now he should be used to these kind of late night calls which required his or his other team mates' presence, but he could never bring himself to understand the reason why he couldn't just be an ordinary Inspector or a Special Cases Inspector. The secrecy was absurd and having to work in two shifts on the same day was frustrating.

When his eyes caught the number on the name plate of a warehouse, he abruptly steered the wheel to his right and the pearl-white Mustang screeched from the main road into a slippery gravel turn, splashing muddy water everywhere, making his scowl deepen when he realized that his precious Mustang would need another through wash soon.

As soon as he stopped the car in front of the large loading area, without even trying to properly park it, he got off and covered his already damp hair with his coat, running towards the large doors that were wide open , emitting a strange smell of fish mixed with that of salty sea water, ice and death.

Cars were parked outside the building he recognized as being both from the Bureau and the local police; a med car was waiting with open doors that belonged to the Forensic Med. There were hardly a few civilians who were ushered away by the local police or taken into the awaiting cars for a quick questioning. The area was surrounded with yellow "Do not Cross" stripes and an officer was taking photographs of the muddy ground and the immediate area, even though the heavy rain seemed to speedily wash away the traces if there were any.

Lower ranked people from the Crime Scene with men from the local police immediately recognized him and gestured towards the right side of the warehouse with grim faces, weariness and something akin to surprised fear written all over their faces. He tried not to pay attention to it, since it was a part of their job to see fear on the faces of the witnesses and even feel it themselves, too. But it didn't help to improve his foul mood.

He hated the cases when people from other units who were not associated with the Bureau had to be involved. Especially, keeping the clueless officers out of the picture just to keep _the secret_ safe was a tiresome business. There were people in every department and even in local forces who were also a part of the Bureau but it required a delicate balance to keep in murder cases; especially if the murderer was suspected of belonging to _the other race_ and the victim was found in normally unexplainable situations or not found at all... Homicide was a department which rarely dealt with _special_ victims because it was a rare occurrence to find the body in the murder scene. Though he had seen and investigated several cases where the murderers belonged to the other race, this was going to be a first -if his Superintendent's suspects were true- that he would see since he had become a Homicide detective.

He could feel the small sliver of excitement that waved through his insides whenever he knew some big fish were on the hook, since the Bureau had specifically called for their presence. But it didn't matter at all for him, for even if the suspicions were unfounded, the case was again theirs to investigate.

He quickly got in, briefly paying attention to the Name Plate of the company that owned the warehouse. While trying vainly to shake off the water from his coat, suddenly an extremely cold drift of air slammed itself to his body before he could even take five steps... _How peachy fine_, he thought, taking a moment to adjust his wet coat to at least keep the warmth inside.

_Early morning, scratch that, an ungodly hour of the night, heavy rain, three hours of sleep at its best, no caffeine, and now a deep freezer in guise of a crumbling building.._. He most certainly was not humored.

The dimly lit warehouse was used as a cold storage building for a sea fish trading firm. The smell was of a bearable kind, since the fish were nearly all frozen or ready to be frozen, waiting in large barrels stacked near the forklifts and scales. There were rows and rows of storage units, all were maintained by buzzing machines that either fanned arctic level breeze or served as impossibly large refrigerators that were at the waist level but large enough to accommodate tons of fish.

The sight was eerie to say the least. He hurried past the machines that produced ice cubes from sea water, creating an arctic mist to swirl around on the ground, pouring like water from the storage units. The dead and frozen eyes of the large tunas, sharks, swordfish and bonitos were watching him silently from the ice-cold fumes that they seem to float in and above as if captured dead whilst they were still swishing their bodies in far oceans. Death, in all its stillness and coldness surrounded him, yet he knew that the hair rising sensation came from not the unsuspecting dead eyes, but from entirely something else.

He could see that at the far end of the right wing of the room, where some of the machines did not work, officers were working diligently. He hurried pass the final security corridor who were from the Bureau, standing there to not let in any outsiders until the race of the victim was verified. Nodding to the two awaiting officers, he walked around a freezing unit to see what the officers worked on.

After tumbling out of his bed merely half an hour ago he hadn't even thought about what might await for him. Being in this line of work for now three years, the surprise effect had quickly dissipated as he studied and witnessed several gruesome cases concerning humans. But now, what he saw made him exhale a startled gasp that he nearly forgot to silence before he drew unwanted attention to himself.

He felt a new chill spread in his bones not completely caused by the artificial climate machines. If his steps faltered momentarily in their sureness, he tried not to show it, because as soon as he appeared from behind the large machine, a tall man with black hair turned towards him halfway and reprimanded loudly enough to be heard above the constant -though a little lessened- buzz of the machines.

"You are late, Zero..."

Zero acknowledged the man, who was gazing at him with his single eye, with a dismissive wave of his hand. Under the solely lit large florescent glow of the industrial lamp above, he could see the people from the Crime Scene and hear their murmurs above the rhythmically humming freezers. He could feel two presences not from their kind behind the grotesque figure that he was called to inspect, and immediately recognized them. Yet, he couldn't pry away his eyes from the figure enough to gaze around and see who else were with them at the scene.

_This have to be just as a big case as it seems if __he__ is here, too._

"At least answer the damn calls next time, will you?" The tall dark man shook his head, knowing that his words were flying above his once-upon-a-time apprentice's head.

"Human or vampire?" He asked, his lilac eyes seemed suddenly as frozen as the ice blocks that surrounded the victim.

"Unknown...yet." The dark haired man murmured, his attention back to the scene before him.

"Identity?"

"Unknown...again."

"Tell me anything you learned, Yagari Shishou."

"Time of death unknown, until they manage to defrost the body. It was found an hour ago by the guard when he came to open the warehouse for a delivery expected early morning. He is being questioned by Arisawa in one of the cars."

"Any indication of breaking in?"

"No, all the locks are intact and there is not even a trace of use of force or struggle." The tall man, Yagari, took out a cigarette pack and quickly lit a nearly crumpled cigarette, nonchalantly offering another one to the young man standing beside him.

Zero declined, Yagari smiled humorlessly. He shrugged as if saying _your loss_ and lit the cigarette without even looking at where he was pointing his Zippo. With sure movements, he shuffled through a few notes he had taken and turned towards the silver haired male beside him after he simply tucked away the papers with uncalculated yet sure finesse. Zero's eyes involuntarily caught the black glimmer of his gun before Yagari straightened his collar.

"No blood trails, no finger prints, no weapons of any kind. I think the murder was done elsewhere and then the victim was brought here." Yagari continued, stating the obvious that he knew Zero had already guessed. He took a deep drag from the cigarette and immediately coughed, filling his lungs with dead, frozen air, that seemed to make him wheeze further.

"Quit this shit, already." Zero grumbled half serious whilst he scanned the scene from a far. "Don't try to boss me around, kid." Yagari whispered just for his ears, making his scowl deepen. He shoved his hands into his pockets and muttered most probably a profanity under his misting breath, trying to ignore the way how his wet coat seemed to freeze on him, the heavy material making cracking sounds as he moved his body.

"Whatever, old man."

Yagari ignored him, though a bit amused, and followed him towards the victim.

"Let's take a closer look, the scene is already photographed and traces are recorded."

The two men approached the seemingly sitting corpse of a young woman. She was positioned among ice cubes that flashed green and blue under the light, surrounded with fish that had exquisite colors in shades of purple, green and gold which they retained their liveliness even after being frozen probably alive.

Yagari chose to stand a step back, for he had already seen the statue-like ice covered form of the victim. As he silently smoked, he watched his once pupil, now subordinate. The puffs of smoke he exhaled clouded before his single eye which shone with deadly seriousness even though his behavior sometimes seemed laid back and way too casual. He knew that Zero had some of his traits, too, for the young man was practically raised by him and that nut case of a foster father of his.

He could see the tension on those shoulders even though they seemed relaxed, the sometimes frighteningly lifeless glint in those lilac eyes, the firmly set jaw and his tiredness hidden under a veil of apathetic boredom and grumpiness. Watching him react before an unknown or before a puzzle had always been an experience for Yagari.

_Here he starts..._ He took a satisfied drag and readied himself.

As Zero knelt beside the scene among the officers who sprayed heated water on the ice block, he quickly figured that the ice and fish seemed to form a sitting place of sorts, maybe like a couch, or better like a throne, for the body resting on them. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the body was propped against a block of ice and the backside of the woman was molded frozen partially into the ice.

Zero tried to get a better view of the front which was crowded with painstakingly arranged bodies of fish with different sizes and colors. He knew he couldn't get any closer without the necessary equipment and precautions, but what made him stop with widening eyes was entirely something else.

"Ah, so you realized." Came Yagari's voice from above him.

One of the big, grayish-blue scaled fish tails was sitting there instead of the woman's legs.

The sudden nausea threatened to send him backwards on his heels with its power but Yagari's hand from behind him, caught his shoulder and steadied him.

"It is sickening, isn't it?" Zero didn't even turn back to confirm that Yagari had the same expression on his face as his. Yes, he liked his job with everything he had, but the unwelcome surprises that it played on him sometimes made it really difficult for him to refrain himself from dashing out in search of a suitable place to throw up.

_Get a grip, Kiryuu... _He berated himself... He had seen and would see worse things as long as he remained in Homicide.

Shaking himself from his nausea, he tried to go nearer to the body of the victim to see how the fish tail was attached to the victim's body, but someone from the Crime Scene stopped him.

"Don't approach any closer, Kiryuu."

Zero's head snapped to the left, where the authoritarian voice came. There were only a few people in the Bureau who would dare to call him with just his name, bypassing using his rank.

"Good morning to you, too, _Aido_." He narrowed his eyes and looked up from his crouching position to the Chief of the Crime Scene Investigation Unit.

"Or should I say good night?" He got up and gazed displeasedly at the blond haired man who now stood between him and the body of the victim. Aido's apparent distaste with the way how Zero used his name derisively without the formalities would have amused Zero had he not been already groggy and agitated because of the situation.

_Damn bloodsucker... Not even sensing his presence earlier helps to build an immune system against him._

The silent vendetta between them was known since Zero was accepted into the Bureau, though not many of the people knew the real reason behind it.

Aido pointedly huffed warm breath into his glowed fingers in a failed attempt to hide his anger, breaking the staring contest that started without none of them knowing, but which they habitually went into every time they met for work related reasons. Not that they met for any other reason since they clearly hated each other enough to not use the same street at once.

"Where is the actual medical examiner?" Zero asked coldly. There was a doctor affiliated with the Bureau who was authorized in doing autopsy or medical examination on the vampire victims assigned by the Council of Forensic Medicine. But he was not present.

Aido narrowed his eyes, very much aware of the displeasure that radiated from Zero.

"He is the second choice, you know." He commented, mockingly incredulous. "If I am not there, he would be called."

Zero waved his hand, already exasperated. He knew there was no way for Aido to miss such a chance to be there, even though there was no need for the Unit Chief to personally attend to an investigation. _Damn bastard_ was one of the most successful vampire doctors he met.

"How long till the ice is melted?" Zero asked when Yagari discreetly yet warningly cleared his throat beside them.

"About an hour." Came the terse reply. Zero raised an eye brow in annoyance, the layer of ice on the body didn't seem thick enough to take that long.

Immediately catching on, Aido provided, easily getting into the role of the all-knowing teacher, "We can't take the risk of using direct heaters, what if..."

"Yeah, yeah..." Zero cut in in his usual rudeness, still looking at the body. "What if it is a vampire and disintegrate upon defrosting..."

Aido clenched his fists, a brewing storm in his blue-green eyes, but before he could say anything, Yagari spoke.

"What did your people found?"

With that question, both young men remembered that they needed to use their time efficiently and forget about their mutual dislike at the moment. Aido took a few steps away from the victim to clear the area for his people to work better, indicating that Zero and Yagari should follow him.

"For your information, we are using a special frost dissolving solution heated here, since most probably all the traces of fingerprints would be erased by the melting ice even if we left the body on its own." Aido added, unable to help himself, gesturing to the heaters at the far end of the area.

They approached one of the portable tables, littered with all kinds of forensics equipment and evidences that were being categorized and packed by two officers into neat cases. Zero's eyes quickly swept over the documented evidence and he felt disappointed with the scarcity and the remoteness of them.

"Nothing much, I guess..." He murmured to himself.

"We have to wait for the ice to melt, I am sure there will be more solid ones once we can inspect the body." Aido supplied.

"But before I say anything, what would you say on it, you two?" He asked. Zero barely held himself from rolling his eyes. _Damn, I can already see the sparks._ Aido liked to hear first what the others guessed only to disprove them with the information he had gathered. _Cocky bastard..._

Zero ran an exasperated hand in his silver hair and realized with a soft grunt that the strands were crisply frozen in place.

"A woman who seems around in her early twenties, vampire or human unknown, time of death unknown, cause of death unknown..." He grimaced, "Even though it is pretty clear that she either was killed before the removal of her legs or died because of the blood and limb loss whilst she was still alive." The thought of the victim being still alive as her limbs were severed made him inwardly cringe.

"If she is a human at that..." Yagari supplied, the light on his cigarette casting an eerie yellow glow in this dimly lit side of the room. Zero could easily tell that he was not an active participant but just an observer in this case.

"Yes, but if she is a vampire, the cause of death is probably something else but also connected with severe blood loss.... We will see it." Aido huffed in his gloved fingers again.

"And they say you command ice..." Zero snorted softly.

"Can't help it!" Aido defended himself. "I have been constantly touching it for almost 30 minutes."

"What about the fish tail and this strange arrangement of the body?" Zero questioned.

"Look at these Polaroids." Aido tapped his finger on a stack of pictures.

"Since I can't let anyone close to the body, I allowed them to take initial pictures of it as they also photographed the vicinity."

Yagari had already seen them, so he tossed the stack to Zero. With his numb fingers, Zero went through the pictures, each of them using different angles and proximity, whilst Aido talked.

"When the local police found it, several fanning machines were around the body, already running to keep the ice on the body from melting. The Superintendent made them removed." His gaze flicked to Yagari.

"This could either be because the murderer didn't want the ambiance he created to deteriorate before we found it, or because he wanted the body to remain frozen till we found it." Zero couldn't believe his eyes as he spoke. The tail was apparently stitched to the lower half of the body.

"I guess, both are the reasons." Yagari took out a new cigarette, ignoring the look that Aido was giving him.

"The body is fixed to the main ice block, thus the perfect sitting position." Aido continued. "Not only the legs but also the whole part lower than the pelvis is cut off to accommodate the fish tail. But there is no trace of the missing limbs and the intestine." His voice was dead serious and full of revulsion even though he had seen mutilated, dissected bodies since his university days.

"I hope we'll have enough time to understand just how much is cut off and how the murderer managed to stitch the fish tail to the body."

"A marlin..." Zero butted in distractedly. "A green-blue stripped marlin... Must have been around 2 meters long."

"We are searching for the head of the fish and the officers are inspecting the ice cutters now." Yagari's tone was flat, but when Zero made another comment, his lips twisted into a small smile.

"If she was a human, lack of the severed parts and blood means that she was murdered elsewhere. If she was a vampire she is most probably a level C. Entombing her in a block of ice serves as a means of keeping the body intact as long as possible. Though we can't deny the morbidly artistic way that the murderer used what the warehouse provided to him." Zero admitted through clenched teeth.

"He looked for somewhere to keep her cool and used whatever was around to decorate his prey, you say?" Aido asked, disdainfully. Apparently he had another idea.

"No, I say that vampire or not, the murderer prepared her with this place and this particular decoration in his mind and even made an afford to find a green and blue stripped marlin among these heaps of fish to make a tail for her. Just wanting to create his own exotic mermaid..." Zero felt the words tumble from his bluish lips.

"I don't think marlin was a particular choice." Aido argued.

"How many places are there in this city that imports and stores marlin, do you think?" Zero challenged back.

Aido narrowed his eyes, "Well, exotic fish restaurants are everywhere in this city, I guess there must be at least five of them."

"Indeed... This company is the only one here, Chief." Yagari ended his silence with a highly belittling smile he partially managed to hide behind his cigarette holding hand.

Aido, ever been the sore loser, indignantly shrugged and with his scowl, he tired to cover the fact that his cheeks now were reddening not only because of the freezing room.

"It is alright to not to know where it comes from _Aido_, at least you _know_ how it tastes, being a Noble and all that jazz..."

Aido turned back to meet Zero's mocking face and his own went between a few shades of red as he harshly grumbled, fists trembling by his sides, voice full of barely contained anger.

"How the hell do _you_ know, Kiryuu?" He could understand Yagari's knowledge, since he had already seen the tail and talked with the guard, but Kiryuu...

"It was written on the name plate at the entrance... _Sole marlin importer of the city, since 1997..._ If you had had the time to read their information on it..."

Aido just made a quick rude gesture of his hand as if he was shooing away a pest with a barely toned down growl but Zero's derisive smile didn't even falter; he knew it when he made a score. He turned his attention back to the photos, leaving Aido to fume on his own. The light satisfaction that their banter provided quickly dissipated as the morbidity of the situation finally fully sank in him.

_Somebody, strong enough to move and cut a fish of probably 200 kilograms had been here just a few hours ago. He was sick enough to dismember and mutilate his prey and even lingered enough to actually suture the body to that of the fish, entomb the victim in ice and decorate her with exotic fish of all colors... Such a twisted, distorted, gruesome mind..._

"What kind of a sick bastard would do this?" The silver haired young man was astonished beyond words, feeling a slight tremor in his hand that held a detailed shot of the stitched area.

Yagari exhaled a puff of smoke tiredly. The gray fumes seemed to hang frozen in the air the instant it left his lips that were twisted grimly.

"A bastard who had time and knowledge in his hands, apparently."

_He wants to showcase his work. And if the victim is actually a vampire..._ Zero raised his head to look at the body again from afar.

The long brown hair of the corpse was arranged beautifully on either shoulder, the eyes were closed and the body -in this case, what was left of it- was naked waist above. There seemed to be no disfigurement on the face, but it was hard to tell the same for the other parts, since the long, thick wavy hair was covering all the naked places of the chest area. She sat there silently among the colorful fish, as if asleep.

"It seems that we are here for a couple of hours." Came a resigned complain from Yagari. "And I have a meeting at nine."

"You can leave it to me." Zero took a glance at his superior and whom he had called _Master_ since he was a boy.

"Not until I see her out of her ice throne." Yagari shook his head with an unhidden pride shining in his eye.

"Well, gentlemen..." Aido who by now had gotten a grip on himself, started to rummage in a plastic bag labeled of his department and procured two white nylon overalls, cotton face masks and two pairs of gloves.

"I am pretty sure that you'll need these if you want to take a closer look whilst we inspect the body. We will be quick... Really, really quick. In case we are facing a vampire victim, the body will decompose and disintegrate fast, erasing all the evidence. If it is a human body, after the defrosting we could go on the autopsy in the lab. But we can't take any risks."

Zero and Yagari quickly discarded their coats and guns, unfastening the shoulder holsters they wore with practiced ease and put on the thin overalls upon their freezing bodies. Meanwhile Aido, too, started to give orders.

"Shut down the rest of the climate machines and take away any unnecessary equipment! Provide more light and bring in some more heated water!

Zero glanced at Yagari, the man who was in fact in charge here, and the older man gave a lazy look that seemed cryptic.

"He knows what he is doing... Let him be."

Aido glanced back at them, his angry look indicating that he had heard it. Yagari shrugged, Zero huffed. _Bloodsucker maybe, but he really knows his job._ He admitted in his mind silently with a resentment whenever Aido came to his mind, or more accurately, anything and anyone that was connected to _that_ _particular_ damned vampire.

As they finished with their preparations, Aido shooed away anyone who was no longer a help to him and they crouched on their knees around the body. The lights in their section of the warehouse were on and after the shut down of the buzzing machines, all that remained was the hushed tones of the officers against the soft hum of the still pouring rain.

Warm water solution was poured over and around the corpse and the remaining thin layer of ice slowly melted. Two officers quickly removed the big ice blocks that came loose and the surrounding fish, one of the officers collected them in a big plastic bag.

"Take them and classify them as evidence." Zero distractedly murmured through his paper mask.

From that point on an expert officer from the Crime Scene started to record the process at all the possible angles, another one was awaiting beside to take high-res photos whenever it was needed.

Aido put on his mask and meticulously arranged his tools which Zero was used to seeing, not just because of seeing them used before his eyes frequently, but because he had used them before, too.

"Kiryuu, you will help me here."

Zero resisted rolling his eyes as he and Yagari, with the help of Aido's vampire assistant, tried to move the body into a reclining position as best as the still skin-deep frozen body and the surrounding ice permitted.

Zero was knowledgeable enough to make an autopsy on humans, though he lacked the expertise of working on a rapidly decomposing vampire body. Since he had been working as an intern criminalist for Crime Scene Unit until two years ago, Aido usually wanted his assistance whenever they happened to make a quick autopsy.

_He can't even do a damn autopsy by himself, yet the first thing he did after being the Chief of the Unit was to kick me out._

He very well knew that the reason why Aido wanted his help was not this, but he couldn't refrain himself from shaking his head as the slippery body refused to lie properly. Long passed from the actual grotesqueness of the situation that they were in, they easily slid into their professional selves and Yagari gestured to the officer who was ready to record the process.

Grim and pale faces rose up to meet the lens, masks momentarily removed, when the officer announced that he was recording, just for the sake of procedure.

All the heads quickly bend down, each and everyone in charge introduced themselves.

"Criminal Investigation, Homicide Superintendent, Yagari Touga."

"Criminal Investigation, Homicide Chief Inspector, Kiryuu Zero."

"Criminal Investigation, CSIU Chief, Doctor Aido Hanabusa, acting medical examiner."

Yagari started to retell the events in a monotone, his voice thick with the cold and smoking whilst the other three poured more water and cleared away everything as best as they could.

"Body of a young female, race remains unverified. Identity remains unknown. Around the age of 20 to 25. Found approximately at 04.20 am by the warehouse watchman. Team of investigators reached the area at around 04.50. The body was found frozen solidly with a layer of presumably sea water ice. Defrosting process took approximately 45 minutes."

Yagari briefly looked at his watch and nodded for the officer to take a shot of his own wrist watch.

"It is now 05.37 am and we are starting."

When he fell silent, Aido started to clear away the clinging strands of hair from the chest area of the body. They momentarily gaped at the vertical wound on the chest which formed a perfect cut. Though the skin was still partially frozen, Zero quickly helped Aido to measure the wound size as Aido's assistant immediately went to take the fingerprints of the woman, meanwhile another officer poured more heated solution over her eyes and in between her teeth to open the oral crevice for readying it to take the teeth print of the victim.

"Vertical chest wound, twenty centimeters long, a clean cut, made with a very sharp object since the skin around the wound is not hemorrhaged or bruised. The depth of the wound is...."

Aido pried open the cavity as best as he could and measured.

"All the way to the spinal cavity, meaning the heart is missing. Lungs are intact, connecting arteries seemingly cut with the same precision.... No unnecessary cuts or traces of blood. It was cleaned."

Zero was helping in taking tissue samples from the chest cavity in several solutions that would retain the DNA structure of the victim and traces of any other matter even after decomposition, in case she was a vampire. Aido let the officers have several shots of the chest cavity and somberly shared a gaze with Yagari as they noted the restraint marks around the thin pale neck of the victim.

He returned to examine the chest wound and with a mini camera took photos of the places that they could not reach or see.

"Dark blue eyes." The assistant murmured monotonously, letting the photographer take a few shots of the face, the dilated eyes gazing above eerily.

Quickly, the assistant and the other officer pried open the frozen jaw and Aido confirmed that the oral crevice and the trachea was empty. After taking samples from the stomach with the help of a long pipe like instrument, and photographing there, too; he left it to his assistant to take the teeth print.

His attention turned back to the lower part of the victim. Zero cited the results of his quick measurements of the area on both the fish tail and the woman's belly where they were connected. They turned the body face down to see whether there were any wounds or marks there.

"No outer wounds, internal bleedings, scratches, traces of struggle or bruises on the back." He continued to examine the spine and the ribs but couldn't find a broken bone with just his hands. He hated the fact that they couldn't use much more advanced techniques and instruments because the time was running against them. He searched every visible and hidden area for traces but found nothing. He took out a scalpel and started to cut the crude stitches that connected the torso to the fish tail. He began to go pale, yet he didn't doubt that the faces of his companions weren't much different.

"Kiryuu, you continue." He whispered.

"You are the authority here." Zero bit back even as he began to analyze what he saw.

"Your viewing angle is better." Aido shot back, without missing a beat. It was apparent that he was tired and slowly reaching to his limits.

Zero could understand the difficulty of both operating quickly and having to talk what he observed simultaneously. That was why earlier Aido had asked -more accurately, demanded- for his help.

Zero bit his lip as the stitches came loose and revealed the totally hollowed out and ice filled abdominal cavity of the victim. He started spraying heated solution to clear away the frost and ice.

_Think of this as an anatomy lesson, Kiryuu... Think of it as an anatomy lesson... _He tried to suppress the growing uneasiness by mentally shaking himself.

"A very clean cut which separated the whole lower body from the upper torso, taking all the tail bone and probably two vertebrae with it. The cut in the vertebral column is clean, too, as if made in a single blow." He felt sickness rise in him as he talked more rapidly.

"The intestines are taken, no trace of the bladder or uterus and the resulting crevice is filled with crushed ice. The other organs seem to be intact... From the place of the cut, the remains of the hip bones are seen." He was sure by now he went from frozen blue to deathly pale as he watched Aido check if what he presumed was true.

"Only intestines, bladder and part of the uterus being missing is confirmed." Aido muttered.

"The internals are starting to decompose." Zero observed and quickly started to apply the already prepared solution which halted the decomposition rate dramatically and started to spray it into the gaping wounds.

"Victim being a vampire is confirmed." Aido's professionally monotone voice sounded.

"Decomposition rate is being altered." Zero supplied in the same tone. Before they turned the body face up, Aido took more samples and Zero took some fluid from the spinal cord. Yagari and the assistant helped each other whilst the other two numbered and stored the samples rapidly.

"98 stitches are used in connecting the body with the fish tail. No known suture techniques are applied, the stitches are made in a random pattern. Suturing material seems to be unnaturally stretched in various places which explains the reason of the measurement difference between the connected places."

Aido shook his head, as if shutting away a thought that was bothering him. He looked at the arms of the victim and noted,

"Restraint marks on the skin around the elbows and bone deep gashes across both of the wrists, wounds are 6.7 centimeters long and 1.7 centimeters deep on the left...."

Aido continued and again, Zero took tissue and blood samples from the wrist wounds. Yagari got up swearing under his breath as he wiped away sweat from his forehead, not amazed to find himself drenched in it even though the room was literally like a deep-freeze compartment.

The body was rapidly decomposing now, the once upon a time unblemished skin of the poor woman was turning grayish and her insides were crumbling like burnt wood. Even in this situation, Aido and Zero was still trying to make the best out of it, still talking, still inspecting the body of the vampire woman. But Yagari knew from the looks on their faces that nothing much was left to be found among the quickly decomposing body.

Zero poured down another solution that he prepared which turned into blue under a special lamp provided by Aido's assistant. Aido quickly froze the outer skin of the woman with his power and they wore red lensed glasses.

"The whole body is covered with washed blood, chest cavity and arms and the lower half." Zero muttered whilst he and Aido turned the body face down for the second time, knowing very well that the body was at its limit. Zero practiced the same procedure again, but there was only blood, no trace of fingerprints or any other thing.

"Are you using the special lenses, officer?" Aido asked just to be sure and received an OK sign.

"No traces of fingerprints or any other bodily fluids except large amount of blood." Zero murmured defeated, sweat dripping from the side of his face, a curse was bit down between his clenched teeth.

"Blood and tissue samples are taken." Aido finished, knowing very well that the tissue samples would also be crumbling by now were it not for the solutions in which they were kept frozen. Their durability was also 4 to 5 hours under the best of the conditions.

"Wait for the teeth print and then take the samples to the Laboratory under special treatment unit, tell them they are sent directly by me, Takada." Yagari instructed an officer as he filled out the awaiting papers with his frost bitten fingers to send them with the officer.

"The guard says that the warehouse closes at exactly midnight, so if we consider the fact that the guard remains behind for another hour, the victim was probably brought here sometime after 01.30 am. Considering that the murder was committed before midnight, and the probability of the body being already half frozen or frozen skin-deep, what does it say to us?" Yagari asked, fishing for another cigarette after discarding his gloves.

Aido and Zero crouched back a bit and watched the woman turn to dust and ashes, each with a suppressed sigh of their own; soon there wouldn't even be a trace of this ash colored mass. The officer named Takada bent down and took the only remaining thing among the already disappearing ashes; the solidified teeth print paste, and numbered the bag he placed it in. The officer who was recording held up his watch again and showed it to the camera. "The body decomposed at 06.12 am."

Zero looked up.

"She was at the worst case a Level C. But if the body was not already skin-deep frozen before it was brought here..."

"She was most probably a Level B." Aido confirmed what the other men thought. His face was laden with worry that he didn't have the energy to hide.

"As soon as we defrosted the body, it began to decompose. This means that the body was already dead for at least one hour before it was brought here and I assume that she was not frosted before being brought here."

Zero supplied, "The stitches were somehow stretched. The measurements of the fish's and victim's belly wounds were not equal when both were skin-deep frosted. She was probably brought here and then the murderer stitched her to an already frozen fish tail, and when the body of the victim, too was frozen, her wound size shrank a bit and it caused the sutures to stretch."

Aido nodded thoughtfully.

"Most probably, she was dead for at least 5 hours or longer since the murderer painstakingly drained the body off blood and removed the heart, cut off the lower part and even cleaned the body off of the blood and took out the intestines to easily stitch the tail." He supplied.

"They are still looking for the head part of the fish, aren't they?." Zero muttered thoughtfully.

Yagari only nodded, his gaze going towards a waiting officer who nodded at him briefly and gave Takada a few numbered bags who quickly dashed out with evidence bags after retrieving the papers from Yagari. "It seems while we were doing this they have also found the meat cutter and took whatever traces are left there."

"Taking this tail to the lab will be one hell of a job." Zero added and turned to Aido. "Maybe there is something that we can tell from these fish and the remaining tail and its upper part."

"Then again, this only proves that she was a Level B, and thus the murderer was not in a hurry."

Zero nodded, suddenly feeling empty and very drained after watching her disappear from the face of the earth as if she hadn't been murdered violently, as if she had never existed in the first place.

Though everyone knew the decomposition rate of the different levels of vampires, Zero felt the need to cite it just for the sake of recording and keeping his mind off of thinking about her.

"Disintegration period changes according to the level of the vampire and in which the dead body was preserved. Though under normal conditions; Purebloods presumably disintegrate in 10 to 12 hours, Level Bs in 4 to 6 hours, Level Cs in 2 to 4 hours, Level Ds, in not more than an hour, and Level Es in 10 seconds to 10 minutes."

With a frown on his face Aido got up from his half sitting position and added.

"End of the recording."

Zero needed a few more breaths before he felt sure that he wouldn't stumble whilst getting up. Aido held out his still gloved hand, totally lost in his own thoughts to remember their mutual dislike; and Zero seemed like equally lost in his own mind to refuse the offer with a slap. Instead, he took the cold, cold hand and got up, his lips pressed into a thin bluish line. He felt frozen inside in utterly different ways.

When the two young men stood side by side, discarding their gloves, they realized what they did with widening eyes and belated regret; but both of them feigned ignorant. Yagari was watching them silently with an indiscernible look in his single eye, contemptuously thinking that had it not been for _that_ _particular _vampire, Aido and Zero could have made a great team even though the former belonged to a higher Class and Zero hated his kind in general. Their professionalism and the way they devoted themselves to their work were thrilling to watch each and every time.

He threw away the cigarette that smoked itself to its bud between his fingers with a sigh. He turned towards the table where he left his gun and coat, Zero following him behind, tossing away his mask, gloves and overall into the bag waiting for them. Yagari briefly glanced at his watch and realized it was past 06.30 am and he could have time to take a shower and get ready if he left quickly.

"Zero, I need your car."

Zero didn't turn towards him and continued to strap his holster. "Make one of the Locals to take you back." He murmured dismissively.

Yagari shrugged with a half smile, knowing the price.

"I'll send _her_ to your place... all shiny and clean." He bargained. And in a blink of an eye, a bright key chain was tossed into his waiting hand. Yagari twirled the key from the loop around his finger with a satisfied smile.

"Good job, gentlemen!" He spoke loudly, leaving the scene behind unhurriedly, adding,

"Chief Inspector Kiryuu in charge!" Zero snorted good-naturedly and took a glance at his retreating Superintendent, but his mood instantly turned sour when he realized Yagari was lighting yet another cigarette.

"Don't smoke in my car, dammit!" He yelled.

"The case is yours, by the way..." Was all the reply he could get before Yagari disappeared.

He grimaced with exasperation, though inside he was also contented with getting the case. He turned towards the men who were already accustomed to the usual banter that went beyond the limits of rank between their Superintendent and his favorite subordinate.

Nodding towards Aido who was gesturing him to come over where he was, he put his cracking coat on, refusing to admit that he was better off without it, and advanced.

"Stop gaping! We'll clean this mess before the press sniffs that there is something fishy." He ordered, intentionally making the officers smile at the pun to lighten up the mood even though he knew, later on, the men would find this scene as a new addition to their collection of nightmares. But he pointedly refused to count himself in.

Outside, the rain continued to pour down.

_TBC..._

**AN: **

I hope you are not too bored or too grossed out during the autopsy scene. The frequency of those kinds of scenes will be limited but will still be there. I just wanted to make it look realistic and shocking. If you hated it and had to skip that part, I am sorry but you'll miss lots of plot points later on in the following chapters.

I didn't want to use the US or UK police organization and ranking system in this fic, since I am not very well informed on them. Instead I used the system of my own country which in fact resembles to that of UK's to create my own. Take a look at the last part for the explanation.

Yeah, I know there are so many questions that you want to ask, so many things that remains unexplained about the relationship between the characters, the setting, the Bureau that Zero mentioned... They will be explored as the plot progresses. Be patient with me XD

You can skip the part below, if you want. It is here just for clarification purposes.

_Info on Police Organization and Ranking System :_

_The highest law enforcement body in a province/state is The Law Enforcement General Directory which servers under the command of a Director General. There are different sub-departments in every General Directory, some of which are Narcotics, Public Wellbeing, Criminal Investigation, Organized Crimes, and so on, each led by a Department Director, and each have equal stance and force. They are responsible of all the administrative districts that are connected to the province._

_A Superintendent is the second in command after the DD, and each department has a number of them assigned to different sub departments. The highest rank after the Superintendent is Chief Inspector -you see where Zero is?-_

_Homicide and CSIU are sub-departments of Crime Investigation._

_In this fic, people from the Crime Scene Investigation Unit are not detectives who could actively participate to the process of investigating any kind of crime, unlike in American productions. Here, they are generally scientists (the higher ups) and technicians with police ranks who find and document the evidences, who know where to look for them, and send them to their respectful branches in the Forensic Med Laboratory to be analyzed and inspected and let the officers of the department do their investigation to which the crime is related. Thus, they serve all of the Sub Departments in Criminal Investigation and have equal stance with them._

_Aido is the head of the Unit and also a doctor. Hence, he did the autopsy because of the secrecy and the urgency of the situation. -This makes him a half police-half scientist, ne?_

_Aido both acts on his own and upon Yagari's demand -though they are equal in rank-, since CSIU is not essentially a police force, but is more of a group of specialists who have the same ranks as the acting police, but act upon the demand of other Sub Departments._

_So... Where does The Bureau fit in this schema? And what is it? You'll see..._

_Remember that this organization and ranking structure is devised by me from actual examples. It is natural that you might not see it anywhere around the world._

_By the way... Dishes prepeared with marlin meat are very expensive delicacies XD_

I hope things are a bit clearer now. And comments will be loved but be merciful.

-


	2. The Sanguinary Angel

**AN: **OK, here is the second chapter. There is a flashback scene in the middle of the chapter. Normally I would _italize_ it, but it is so long that reading it in italics might hurt the eyes, so I left it like that. That part is marked with "- o -" .

By the way, since we are seeing the events from Zero's point of view, try not be angry with Kaname and Kaien in this chapter. We will see the things from their povs, too. Indeed, Kaname's is in the next chapter XD

A reader asked me if this fic is really a Kaname/Zero one or a Aido/Zero one... It is certainly going to be a Kaname/Zero one. But I can't help teasing Aido XD He adds a kind of comic relief, don't you think so?

Not Beta-ed, again. ^^'

For now, enjoy the chapter and please tell me what you think with a review...

-

**Chapter 2: The Sanguinary Angel**

Zero could only manage to return his flat at around ten. By that time, he was actually sick in the stomach and still had that massive killer of a headache that made him even more disagreeable and grumpier than his usual self. He was chilled to his bones and his clothes clung to him heavily, not offering any semblance of warmth. He knew he would sleep like the dead the whole day if he went straight to the bed, but he reminded himself that he had to be at the Department in the afternoon.

He and Aido worked through the morning, each second adding to their agitation. He knew _too_ well that a vampire would want to flop in their bed by that time. The more you keep them awake, the crankier they get and thus, the more unbearable. Aido most certainly wasn't being deliberately an ass about it, but after Yagari left, it became apparent that he was indeed the peacemaker that had stood between them.

Softly cursing under his breath, Zero climbed the stairs up to his flat and the first thing he did upon entering his lonely home was to get rid of his coat. Finally in his warm quarters, he changed into his sweat pants and dried his damp hair off. He didn't have the strength and patience to take a shower.

At last, it was time to grab a bite. He knew he couldn't take any painkillers with his empty stomach, so he started to rummage in his fridge to find things with which he could make a simple and quick snack. A soup of any kind would be like something sent from heaven, yet he didn't have any patience. All he wanted to do was to put something in his growling stomach and swallow as many aspirins as his body allowed.

He decided that a simple late breakfast of bacon and eggs with coffee would do for now. Making himself busy in the kitchen helped a little to ease his sour mood, but thoughts were still running amok in his hurting head.

They had found the head part of the fish in one of the freezing units, but he didn't hope to get any fingerprints or traces out of it. It only served to him as a validation that proved the murderer was a very strong one... inhumanly strong, indeed. Aido thought the same, that the murderer was most probably a vampire.

There had been a faint marking on the left side of the fish's head, which could mean that it had been dragged along the ground until the murderer reached to a cutter. Zero reasoned that in all of the small winches and forklifts that their people had examined, they would only come up with the fingerprints of the company's workers. He growled angrily in his throat.

_That sick bastard is one of them... Why would a monster like him would want to use forklifts when he has so much of that freak power?_

He cut his finger whilst he tried to open the tin can of the coffee with the uneven inside of the metal lid. He tried to resist the urge to just squash the tin and be done with it when a sudden pang of pain sizzled through his trachea into his chest upon the sight of his own blood; but the coffee tin had already caved in under his grip, with the lid popping up and coffee grains spilling everywhere.

_Freak power, huh... Who am I to judge when I am one them, too..._

He put down the now distorted can and took a deep breath, forcing himself to forget about the still lingering pain in his chest. It was agitating his already hurting stomach further. Even though he hated the idea with every fiber of his being, he knew he had to call for a new _delivery _soon.

The idea of making coffee put aside for now, he found the small box of pills in one of the drawers and dissolved a few tablets of it in warm water. Quickly swallowing down the warm concoction in a few gulps, he grimaced at the familiar yet still unwelcome taste of the blood tablets. This chemical substitute of the actual blood might almost taste as if brewed by the very hands of devil himself, but it really worked. It had all the nourishments of the actual blood and also was able to send a positive signal to the brain that was wired to search for and satisfy the need to consume blood. Though for Zero, it was the best among the worst of his choices-in fact all of his choices were worse than each other-, it still didn't mean that he liked them or got used to becoming dependent on them. Especially when he thought about who developed the foul but necessary pills.

_Indeed, the devil himself..._

He went on preparing his breakfast with bleary eyes, thinking about why would a vampire kill someone from their own kind and feel the need of showcasing her corpse. It was obvious that he had taken great pleasure from arranging the body in that fashion as if he was creating a work of art with the sole purpose of inspiring awe and a macabre kind of artistic beauty. Truthfully, the murderer was successful in creating that impression in him and many others who were present at the scene.

Yet, to tackle down a Level B was no small feat even for another vampire. The more the bloodline that they belonged were closer to the ancient lines, the more powerful they were. Some of the Level Bs, like Aido, who descended from those ancient heritages had some unique powers of their own. With the identity of the victim remaining unknown, Zero couldn't pass a judgment on how the victim had been subjugated.

Restraints... came to his mind. Yet the marks were very faint. Could the body have actually found the time to heal itself from the bruises left by them, or had she been heavily drugged and there hadn't been a real need to use severe restraints while she was drained of her blood? He wouldn't know until he got the toxicology reports.

He shook his silver head thoughtfully, watching the eggs and the bacon fry.

Then again, there might not had been a need for the drugs at all. The wounds on the victim's wrists were certainly made by a hunter weapon. They didn't seem to have any signs of healing around the edges. To make a vampire bleed to death, using a hunter weapon was the best choice. Hunter weapons were made out of hardened silver which was poisonous for the vampires and coated in several different chemical concoctions that were also sometimes fatal for the vampire body. And some of them had the ability to stop the cells from producing blood congealing enzymes.

He opened a new can of coffee and made himself a large mug of steamy beverage out of it. He left the spilled grains to be cleaned for later. Taking the still sizzling eggs and the bacon on a plate, he made himself comfortable on the sole chair beside his kitchen table. His mind continued in its clockwork.

The markings on her elbows and around her neck might also belong to some hunter restrains. It was not unheard of for a vampire to use them on another vampire, but again the question _how_ came to the mind.

Zero knew that there wasn't many among the vampires who could effectively use them, since they might instantly repel them, too. It was a double edged sword for a common vampire to handle since those restrains and weapons were made by the hunters to be used against them. They also required specific incantations to activate and to neutralize, most of which were very well kept secrets by the hunters.

Zero knew all these, because he was also a born hunter himself. He knew all the quirks of the profession -even though some preferred to call it a form of art- because he learned from some of the best. In fact, the people who were associated with the Bureau were either vampires of different levels or hunters. Though the number of the vampires were dramatically less than the hunters, it didn't change the fact that many of them held a high status in the Bureau like Aido did.

_Another completely unnecessary thing devised by that bloodsucker leader of theirs... _

Zero didn't want to ruin his appetite with thinking about it. He quickly wolfed down his breakfast and took the coffee mug with him into his living room. Flopping on his couch, he checked his answering machine. _Oh, two calls... _

"_My adorable son!"_ His adopted father's annoyingly hyped up voice sounded and Zero suppressed a wince, opting to take a sip from his coffee.

"_Well I guess you are not at home yet...Or... Are you avoiding me again, hmm?"_ Suddenly the voice assumed a heart broken tone. After a few heart beats of waiting, during which Zero smiled ruefully into his mug as he imagined how his adopted father must had been spazzing about the bad mannerisms of his son in his head, his adopted father's voice took a more serious tone.

"_I guess you are actually not at home. Well, Yagari informed me about the incident. Please come to my office as soon as you finish your shift tonight."_ A moment's hesitance and then that annoying, chirpy tone took over.

"_And maybe you would come home with your Tou-san to stay this time... Ne, Kiryuu-kun?"_

Zero sighed, exasperated. His _father_, Cross Kaien, was right, sometimes he actually avoided picking up the phone or his cell, when he saw the number on the led screen. He would only pick up the receiver if what Cross was saying was work related. Other times he would usually leave the old man to rant on on his answering machine and call him later when the older man was a little bit less ecstatic about whatever he was calling to tell. But he knew he would go and pay a visit to the man in his home even though the experience would take away a couple of years from his life.

The tune for the second message bipped. Zero covered his eyes as if he wanted to hide from the person whose voice sounded from the machine.

"_Not arrived yet, huh?"_ Aido...

"_Takada called a few minutes before. He says the reports on the evidences will be ready at around three o'clock this afternoon. My people will send them to you as usual."_ The voice stopped and Zero grimaced as he realized that Aido's groggy and annoyed tone didn't finish talking yet. _"By the way... Answer the damn calls next time, will you, Kiryuu?"_

When the machine fell silent, Zero reached for his cell that had gone off during his way back home which he had chosen to ignore at that time. Yes, a call from Takada... No wonder that Aido was pissed off, because he had to call him personally, something he very rarely did.

He finished his coffee and set his alarm so that he could have time to clean the mess in the kitchen and take a hot shower. There was nothing much to do in the silent and lonely morning, so he swallowed a few aspirins, quickly drew the curtains tightly and got into his unmade bed.

The moment his silver head hit the pillow, he fell asleep soundly with a half formed wish in his waning consciousness to not see any nightmares this time.

**-**

Owing your life to someone else and learning to grow up and live with it is a torment of sorts that would follow you like your second shadow until the day you die. You can never forget it completely, never be free of its burden; after all, you are alive because someone permits you to be. With one of their whimsical order you can be dead in an instant or even though you manage to escape, you become nothing. A fugitive who has no name, no hope for a future, yet on the run with a face and an accursed name which help them come after you the moment you least expect them to. And that day, you are as good as a dead man walking on this earth.

In Zero's mind, there were two distinct dates which he could never forget, for they were carved into his very soul with something indelible...

Blood.

- o -

He had three long gashes on his back, across his left shoulder, made by a violent Level E. He could still see those berserk eyes, completely taken over by a red hue, even when he closed his eyes. The master of the Level E was snickering behind two other Level Es and watching the scene unfold before him with sheer satisfaction shining in his cruel and hateful gaze.

"Feast on him!" He was saying. "Drain him and tear him up until only a lump of his ugly flesh is left behind!"

His mind was crushed with terror. He was on the ground after he barely ran away from the first blow of the elongated nails that caught him from his back, his school bag partially saving him from getting his spine torn into two.

The mad Level Es closed in on him like a pack of starving, raving animals; their eyes and bared fangs glinting in primal anticipation with the setting sun.

_Run... Run away... Run... _His mind was screaming at him, his undeveloped hunter senses running amok in his mind; yet he couldn't move, couldn't do anything. His small body was shaking violently, the wound on his back burning like hell fire, his eyes dilated beyond belief with a terror and a pain that all he could do was to watch them as the smell of his fresh human blood further excited and beckoned the salivating Level Es closer.

When he thought that he was really going to die this time and instinctively curled up into himself, a blur of gray swirled before his pain laced vision. The sound of the razor sharp metal slicing the flesh... And a wild wail was heard before ashes rained down on his paralyzed body.

His dizzy head snapped up to see what was happening and angry growls howled in protest.

"Back off!" The man in the long gray coat, his adopted father, now was standing between him and the remaining Level Es who were readying themselves for a second attack with an animalistic tenacity on not letting their prey get away.

"Who the hell are you?" Came the harsh voice of the Noble, the masters of the rampant Level Es.

"Call your dogs back." Kaien answered as he readied his sword. "You impudent hunter..." The Noble growled, "So you want to join that small pest behind you in hell..."

He heard a humorless chuckle above him and his body swayed to his left side, hitting the ground with a chocked cry when all strength seeped away with his draining blood.

"The one who'll go to hell will be _you_, vampire..."

That was the last thing he heard, catching the sight of that saw-edged sword whilst it was mightily swung before him, aflame as if caught fire from the raging sun. His vision blurred away. And then, there was only pain.

How many days he went in and out of consciousness, he didn't know. In his dream-like visions, he saw his attackers and the memories they invoked inevitably. He saw his mother reaching out for him, eyes bandaged, ankles shackled down in that small basement, calling out for him to come, calling out for Ichiru to come nearer... His already dead twin. If he had screamed, if he had cried bitter tears of helplessness and frustration, he did not know. He could not remember. All he knew was the soul wrenching pain of being utterly lonely and desolate in his dark room even when Kaien tended to him and his Shishou visited him.

When he was well enough to walk around and move his left arm without causing himself too much pain, Kaien talked to him. He said that their hideout had been found, his life was in immediate danger, and even his and Yagari's power might not be enough to save him.

He didn't know what was worse. To die and leave this place or to remain alive only to be hunted down by vampires who wanted revenge? He had no one; no father or mother, no brother... Nothing worth to linger on. There were only his Shishou and Cross Kaien, his Shishou's fellow hunter, who had taken him in readily and even saved him from that Noble and the Level Es. Even though he was still only eight years old, he understood. He was a threat to his Shishou's and Cross' life. They were practically nursing and hiding the only remaining enemy of their Pureblood leader. The vendetta that they were pursuing was unstoppable and he didn't want the only remaining people by his side to get hurt because of it.

With the remaining glint of life extinguishing from his lilac eyes, he told Kaien that he would follow him. Kaien seemed so sad and distraught even though he tried to smile for him and assure him that he was not a burden for him at all, that he would protect him. But he didn't want to be protected when he knew that the cost would be the life of his benefactor. He only nodded just to appease the conscience of his _father_, even though he never called him such since he had been adopted by him one year ago.

Only two days later after that conversation, the two of them were before a heavy ornate door, waiting. The place was unknown to him, bearing a heavy, ancient atmosphere which was suffocating and depressing. He could feel what was inside those huge wings of the dark wooden entrance... So very well that his blood was trying to crawl back in his veins and he was trembling slightly. Yet, he tried not to show it, he tried not to run away and remain still and stand tall just like the noble blood in him ordered him to do.

They were called in and the doors were open. Inside was dimly lit with old chandeliers and there were rows of high seatings partly shadowed, partly illuminated. In nearly each of the sittings was a vampire whose collective auras were like an eighteen wheeler crushing over his hunter senses. For a few moments, he felt like he was going to die just because of the nearly tangible quality of the angrily swirling auras. He could taste death in his mouth and the wound from which he was still recovering throbbed like a thousand hearts. When he started to choke on his breath, Kaien reached out for him to hold him on his feet.

"Gentlemen..." A low voice was heard in polite admonition and a few moments later, he realized that he could breathe and stand on his own. Yet, he couldn't raise his eyes enough to count just how many of them were present and see for himself just what they really wanted from him and if they had any intention of letting Kaien go alive. The vengeful auras -a little suppressed thought still present- made his stomach curl whilst his body shivered under the intense scrutiny as if he was being dissected like a little bug. The anger and hatred in him against their kind grew, handing him a tread to hold on. Remembering Ichiru's lifeless and broken form, recalling the voice of his mother calling for him to come closer were enough to keep him fearlessly up even if it was showing only from the outside.

"Do you know why you were called here, Kaien Cross?" That same voice, which obviously belonged to an old vampire, sounded again in the deadly silence.

"Very much." Came Cross' curt and cold reply.

"Don't you know that it is a felony against the Council to hide that boy?"

"I don't see any reason not to do so, since he is my son." Replied Kaien, putting one hand on his shoulder.

"Adopted or not... He must be executed! Kiryuu blood line must be erased. The felony that they committed against us and our leader is unforgivable. Hand him in and leave this place alive."

Kaien immediately put his body before his, holding him back with his hand. That foolish man... That kind man...

"Really now, Kaien..." An angry voice sounded, as the oppressive feeling around them intensified and made him gasp. "You know that you are throwing away your life here in vain. You have wounded a Noble severely. Your safety is not guaranteed even by the Hunters Association, you would only die along with that Kiryuu boy here. At least we offer you the chance to turn your back and leave that accursed boy behind."

He didn't want that... He certainly didn't want anyone to die for him in vain since there was apparently no way for him to live. He felt angry, he felt helpless; but he still had his pride, he could still remember what his father had told him that day. Even though his already crushed heart warmed irrevocably at how Kaien, his _father_, was ready to sacrifice his life for a stranger with whom he lived only for a year, it was foolish. He was not worthy of that kind of sacrifice, he didn't want to be burdened by it even when he was dead.

And more than anything, more than dying, he realized that he was afraid of seeing Kaien to leave him behind. The sudden realization hit him hard, for he believed that he was fearless and hollowed out of life enough to not give a damn about it. Yet, he wasn't. And he wouldn't leave the decision to the sometimes annoying but always kind man standing protectively before him. He wasn't raised like that. He might be a small, fragile looking boy, but he was a proud hunter inside....

....who was able to realize that the time was up for him.

He reached out and held the hand which was calloused from using that aflame sword in his own tiny ones and squeezed it in silent gratitude. Startled, Kaien slightly turned his head towards him, but he quickly got before his father and for the first time met the vampires in the eyes since he had entered the room.

"There is no need to that." His small voice resonated through the now completely silent room. He watched as several vampires started to murmur at once. Kaien forced him to turn and face him, sweat beading on his brow.

"What are you saying, Kiryuu-kun?"

"I am saying what must be told, _Tou-san_..." He saw Kaien's eyes go round at first with disbelief and then with heavy emotion upon hearing how he addressed him.

"Boy, turn around and face us." Another authoritarian voice boomed among the murmurs of the other vampires.

He obliged and faced them, features set to show no emotion at all, fists clenched by his sides.

"You can have your revenge." He declared, knowing such words were too big for him to utter. "But it is not because I am fearing you. It is because I don't want anyone to be hurt by you... Not again."

"So, impudence and baseless pride are common traits of the Kiryuus..."

"We shall get rid of them forever..."

"This would also be a lesson for the other hunters..."

"So it is decided. Take the boy in charge!"

Just as two guards appeared from the shadows, someone stood up from his seating and the room immediately fell into a silence. The tall man raised his hand and the guards stopped in their tracks. He couldn't see the face of the vampire until he left his place and slowly, gracefully started to come down the short stairs, drawing all eyes and a surprised mix of auras on himself as if he was a magnet.

When the tall vampire shook himself off the shadows and stood before him, he felt like he was going to crumble under the intensity of the vampire's crimson tinted garnet eyes. Fear seeped through his bones yet again, involuntary shivers shook his tightly clenched fits, but he didn't break the eye contact. Not because he tried to assert his will, but because he simply couldn't look away.

"It seems that you have already resigned yourself, Kiryuu?" The vampire's voice echoed through his being, wrapping itself around him like a palpable entity. He was terrifying. He was frighteningly beautiful, inescapably deadly. He couldn't even nod, couldn't even swallow the lump in his throat. He just looked at those narrowed down eyes as they swept over his form like newly sharpened daggers.

"I won't let him be executed." The vampire declared with a sure voice, causing an uproar among the other vampires.

"My Lord, he is our enemy..."

His mind wasn't able to follow every single angry complaint. Wasn't he going to die? Who was this young vampire, that everyone called as _My Lord_? What was happening? Uncertainty was eating his trembling heart out.

"He is _my_ enemy... And_ I _decide to do what is to be done with his life." He heard the vampire say to the others politely but with a tone that didn't let any room for argument. The vampire turned back to him, his angelic features set in a deadly intend.

"I will make him my servant. He'll pay his debt by living for me, not by dying and getting away."

Upon those words, his eyes widened with pupils dilated beyond recognition and he lost all control of his body. With a terror he never knew before, all he could do was to stand there like a little marionette which was attached to unseen strings.

The vampire approached him, momentarily looking somewhere behind him with a pensive look in his face and crouched on one knee before him. He felt his body fall in his waiting arms as if he was pulled by an invisible force, his senses screaming him to get a grip and run, all rational thoughts escaping him.

With a swift motion, the vampire rose on his feet, his weight seemingly nothing for him. His head lolled back from his carrier's arm, unfocused eyes still open in horror, a chorus of disapproval in his now acutely hearing ears. And he heard the vampire tell them his intentions and thus, effectively silencing them.

The last thing he saw in that room was Kaien with his shamed and crushed face, his hopeless eyes unable to hold his, head bowed down in defeat. A single tear escaped his eye and he was carried away to somewhere else.

He didn't remember how he suddenly found himself all alone with the vampire in a room that was lavishly decorated but desolate. He was still in the arms of the vampire and was still unable to move. His terrorized gaze was stuck at that angelic yet anguished face. He tried to say something but whatever the vampire was doing to him, he couldn't form the words.

"W-wha..." His own voice cracked in his ears. The vampire touched his cheek with elegant but cold fingers and brushed away that drop of tear.

"You are a strong one." Those eyes flashed with momentary admiration, but they quickly turned reserved and distant.

"You are saved from their clutches." The vampire murmured hugging him more tightly and bringing his body closer.

"But everything has its price, Kiryuu-kun. And yours will be a bitter one." With that the vampire craned his head backwards by holding him from his hair and he gasped in fear, seeing how those luminous garnet eyes turned into smoldering crimson, how his canine teeth elongated between his parted lips into sharp fangs.

A warm breath ghosted over his stretched delicate neck and in his frenzy, he somehow managed to break away partially from the vampire's spell. His free hand quickly rose to push the vampire away, his feet kicking futilely on the couch that they were sitting.

"S-stop... No.." He choked out. But the vampire exhaled a thoughtful breath and murmured against his skin.

"Indeed... A strong one..." And he bit down.

His back arched impossibly with the pain that originated from his neck and traversed through his whole being. His ears were filled with the loud, hair raising noise of his blood being drawn as he cried and continued to kick. His small body got trapped further in the vampire's strong but careful grip.

It hurt, it hurt like he was getting skinned alive on his neck. Tears spilled from his eyes involuntarily, his small fist curled in the impossibly soft brown tresses of the vampire, trying to pry his head away from his neck. But the vampire took his hand away and kept it in his own.

Soon, his struggles ceased and he went limp. After only a minute, which seemed like ages to him, the vampire rose his head, his scarlet blood tainting his lips, eyes slowly reverting back to their garnet color. He seemed sad and melancholy for some reason he couldn't comprehend. His consciousness was fading.

"Remember my name, Kiryuu-kun..." The vampire gazed back at him.

Yes... Yes, he would certainly remember that name whispered slowly to him like a lullaby, echoing in his foggy mind over and over. And his teary eyes closed against his will.

He neither saw or felt it as the vampire gently cleaned his bite marks with a silk handkerchief and healed them with his power.

"Yes, remember it well, Kiryuu-kun.... After all, your life is mine now."

- o -

Zero flipped through the reports carefully. Even though some of the toxicology and pathology results were missing, there was nothing particularly new that they didn't already know in the analyses. Only a few details were striking to note.

The cause of death was deduced as the loss of the heart. Vampires had impossibly quick regenerative abilities. Unless you remove the heart or severe the head, they would survive, especially when they consume lots of fresh blood and have time to rest. Certainly, the victim would probably have survived for a long time until her blood had been drained from her wounds even if she had been mutilated whilst alive. But that would have decreased the period of time in which the body would decompose. Zero thought that she had already been dead, meaning her heart was removed, before she was mutilated. The murderer hadn't wanted to kill her fast, he had wanted to her to stay intact as long as possible until he could showcase his work. He wondered what kind of a weapon had been used -and with what kind of a force- to cut her bones and flesh in one precise blow... This was sick.

Crime Scene reports told him that the murderer had used a high window to get in. He grimaced at the photo, for a vampire it was nothing to jump up and down from that kind of height. That explained why the locks had been still intact. As he expected, there wasn't any fingerprint anywhere. In fact, the murderer would be really dumb if he had left one, after doing such a thorough job with the body.

What was bothering him was the fact that there was no clue about who the victim was. Her fingerprint didn't match to anyone's that was cataloged, her picture didn't appear in any database of the vampires, her teeth print was also proved to be useless. And the most astonishing thing was that there wasn't any missing reports carrying her picture or having a description of her. Not that he would have expected one, since the vampire society was so strict in its own affairs. Especially the Purebloods and the Noble Class of Level Bs... But not knowing the identity of the victim was surely a disadvantage for them. How could a Level B get murdered and no one knew who they were? By now, he at least expected someone from the Vampire Council to call him or his Superintendent to ask what they had found. Yagari hadn't said anything on this subject yet. But it was both unusual and suspicious at the same time.

He leaned against his chair and looked out of his office's window. The rain was pouring again. It was irritating to watch it instead of being soothing. Everything just went on in their usual tempo, but here he had a case in his hands whose victim was a mistery to him. He could feel the heavy gaze of the dead and gone woman from the photo files on his table. It was a solid fact that he hated vampires with his very soul, but it didn't mean that he could set a distinct emotional line between the victim and himself.

Watching her disintegrate had brought back memories of him killing Level Es. When he was showered with that ash like remains of a by gone life, he would remember his own pains, his own desolate soul. He might be a stabilized Level D now, but that didn't mean it was all dandy and fine to watch another life extinguish, especially by his hands.

During the time he worked in the Hunter Association, before the establishment of the Bureau, he was a part-time hunter who was sent after rampant Level Es and killed many of them in the name of the Association and sometimes even upon the request of the Vampire Council.

He still remembered how his hand shook whilst he held the Bloody Rose, his trusted gun, at the first Level E he had killed who had also been robbed of his humanity just like him. He knew all too well the gut wrenching, soul consuming pains of the hunger that shone in that Level E's eyes. He knew that sometimes dying was the best solution for an anguished soul. And he had pulled the trigger.

But now he was a policeman, at least in essence and on the paper. Now, his job was to save as many lives as he could by preventing criminals from both races to hurt their own kind and each other. His hunter self had rebelled at the idea at first, making him see that he was committing his life not only to save humans but also the lives of those vampires... Those vampires who ruined him and his family... Those vampires who only wanted their petty revenge on an eight-year-old orphan boy...

Through the years, he learned to silence that rebellious side of his hunter self and convinced himself that he was only helping people, without spending time to stop and categorize them into humans and vampires. Otherwise, he felt that his family was turning in their graves. It was too much of a big guilt for his conscious mind to carry around on a daily basis. But he knew he didn't seek for any reconciliation in his soul. His professionalism and his hatred for the vampire kind had simply learned to ignore each other. He was practically ordered to join the Bureau by _him_, though the only other choice for him was to stay as a wandering hunter. Yet he knew he would do this job even when the circumstances were different.

His shift was about to finish and the clock was showing it was near 9 o'clock. Today, his shift was short, since the day before he had had to work for more than 14 hours. In a blink, he collected all of the files into a big folder under his arm and after locking his office, he headed for his car to pay a visit to Cross at the Bureau.

On the way, his cell went off again and he checked the number. He frowned at the caller ID and picked up the phone. It was pure luck that Aido had called him first, since he was contemplating on calling him to ask about the missing results. Without letting him speak first, he directly asked what was on his mind as soon as he picked it up.

"Where are the toxicology and pathology results, Aido?"

Aido grumped on the other line, annoyed by the interruption.

"_Such a civilized being you are, Kiryuu."_ Zero didn't bother to answer to that and Aido continued.

"_They are here, on my table and we need to talk."_

"Just send them over to the Chairman's with someone. I am heading there."

Aido, clearly undeterred, continued. _"Okay, I am going there, too..."_ And he hung up, leaving a frustrated Zero to scowl at the red lights.

_Bastard really likes getting on my nerves... Too much for his own good..._

But suddenly his curiosity piqued. If Aido was willingly meeting him, moreover, at Cross' office, it had to be something exceptional. His hopes about finding the victim's identity dramatically went up.

He parked his Mustang and quickly found his way around the corridors of the Bureau which was generally silent at this time of the night and with a brief knock he announced his arrival. The large office door of the Chairman opened, revealing a delighted Cross Kaien who readily jumped into his way for a hug with his usual "My adorable son!" But Zero with his inhuman speed, got into the room and left the man at the door, successfully avoiding being the victim of his hyped up affections.

Arms empty, Kaien sobbed once and then straightened and closed the door. This was a ritual of theirs, which Zero was tired of -even though he begrudgingly admitted inside that he liked the attention- but which Cross never ceased to use the opportunity to do, even going lengths to fake great disappointment whenever his affections were turned down like this.

Zero made himself comfortable on a chair, and put the folder on Kaien's table.

"How have you been, Kiryuu-kun?" Cross adjusted his glasses on his nose, his long pale blond hair tied back as usual.

"Peachy keen, Chairman." Zero mumbled good-naturedly to make Kaien smile after the episode at the door. True to his expectations, the man smiled back, making a mug of instant coffee for Zero and fishing for a tea bag to make himself tea with the ever present kettle by the far end of his room.

"But you don't seem like one." He looked over his shoulder and Zero shrugged.

"Lack of sleep... I am fine."

"I will call for a _delivery_ for you soon." Zero didn't say anything to that, knowing that by tomorrow he would get the parcel.

The Chairman turned back and sat down behind his desk, offering the coffee mug to Zero and taking a sip from his own tea.

"What did Shishou say to you?"

"Nothing much, except a brief summary of the state of the victim and that _you _would be the one to tell me the details."

Zero set his coffee down and drew the folder to himself, getting ready to tell him everything he knew.

"By the way, Aido is coming too... He must be on the way."

Again, true to his expectations, Kaien's eyes twinkled in delight. He never understood why Cross was so fond of them, being an ex-hunter himself and the sole witness of what had happened to him that night. His tolerant behavior towards them, towards their so called humanitarian ideals and co-existence ideas was in fact what had made Zero to never call him _Tou-san_ again after that fateful night. Kaien was really a kind man, Zero knew that he had had no other choice but hand him in to the Vampire Council at that time, he knew that the fear that had shone in his eyes for him had been real. But, so was the shame on that downcast face, too, that had forever burned itself in Zero's memory.

Somehow, in some far recesses of his mind, Zero was blaming Kaien, too, of what he was forced to become. Why hadn't he let Yagari Shishou to know about that late night visit? Why hadn't he simply kicked him out and let him on his own? Being homeless and being hunted down by Level Es were better choices for him, weren't they, than what he had become and the pain he had gone through because of it after that night...

Just a little; a tiny, little sliver of blame that he was not completely conscious of... It was as if, Kaien had known that he wasn't just going to be killed... For that, he had mentally prepared himself as much as an eight year old could be ready for his death. But what happened to him in the arms of that vampire, he most certainly had never expected it...

Maybe that was why the man was showering him with affection, always had looked after him after the incident, never let him hurt himself, never let him to become _the nothing_ that he so much desired to turn into. He had paid money for his education, he had forced his hand persistently in the Hunter Association for him to be able to continue his hunter training... Just to amend to his mistake, his choice, his powerlessness; whatever... He didn't know. In fact, he just didn't want to know. That knowledge would make him lonelier than he had already been feeling like.

He told him everything that he had written down in his official report, Kaien listening to him and examining the photos, the documents and the Lab results thoughtfully.

"We don't know who she is." Zero finished. "What I don't understand is that there isn't even a missing file filled for her. She was a Level B, for goodness' sake. The Council must either be sleeping or they are just hiding something from us."

"Why would they do that, Kiryuu-kun?"

Zero shrugged, tired. "I can't come up with any reason other than the secrecy problem... But I am sure there is something else. By now, at least one Family Leader had to have called in to inquire us of a missing person. Are the Purebloods really this dense about their group of following?"

"What if she doesn't belong to a local Family, but is an outsider?" Asked Kaien skeptically.

"Might be... Though I don't believe that even a mosquito could fly around here without the knowledge of at least one Council member or a Family Leader."

Just at that moment a knock was heard and Aido Hanabusa came in.

"Such a crude analogy, Kiryuu. Likening us to mosquitoes..."

Zero just rolled his eyes and Kaien greeted him.

"Just tell me what you found Aido." There was a define glint in the blonde's eyes that Zero knew all too well...

"I am going to share a classified information, Kiryuu. Might make it easier for you to find who the victim is." He made himself comfortable before Zero's seat and held up the papers he brought.

"Tell us what you deduce from these." Zero scoffed, already reaching to snag the file from his hands.

"Go, be a college professor and rid us from that attitude of yours, oh all-knowing Aido-_sama_." He grumbled and got a grim satisfaction from Aido's indignant growl.

Kaien watched them from the corner of his eye. Really, personally they didn't have anything against each other but they seemed to enjoy pulling each other's leg spitefully just for the sake of their mutual dislike that originated from utterly different reasons.

"It says you found the trace of a drug that speeds up the beating rate of the heart, thus, the blood circulation rate. This could be for the sake of draining her blood in a much shorter time than the normal period that is required." Said Zero. "How much is used? Can you say?"

"Excessive amounts of that drug is poisonous for both humans and vampires. But it is also used as an aphrodisiac in small doses... The dose was normal, enough to make someone feel like they are ready to climb over the walls."

"So it contains endorphine or a stimulant that causes its excretion."

"The second one."

Zero mentally noted to check about the drug and the places that it was sold or found. He continued to read.

"No anesthetic drugs are found?" That knowledge made him shudder. "Meaning, the woman was conscious as her heart was ripped out..."

Beside him, the Chairman sighed.

"So the wounds were made with a weapon coated in a chemical that the hunters use.... I want a through analysis of its components if you can manage."

Aido simply nodded his head, eyes expectant. _So there is more to it. _He flipped through the pages and came to the one concerning the analysis of the spinal cord fluid and tissue that he had taken. His eyes went round and he reread some parts.

"Traces of morphed cell structure in the spinal cord and fluid..." He mumbled, not believing what he was saying.

"Impossible." He turned to Aido. Aido looked sombre and his eyes glinted dangerously.

"That's why it is a classified information, Kiryuu. Read the rest."

Zero's eyes swept over the medical explanation of the analysis and every second his consternation increased.

"Possible spinal muscular atrophy... But that's a genetic disease." He argued. "How?"

"Apparently, we vampires aren't as perfect as you think." Aido sighed and leaned back.

"This means... Vampires too can have genetic disorders... that their bodies cannot correct or heal from..." He inferred in a murmur.

"If your DNA is wired like that, how can your system distinguish between what is wrong and what is right in its cell structure?" Aido explained, his voice dropping down. "Even when you are a vampire, if you are born in this way, your body will simply assume that that is the way it was meant to be and won't fight it... It will never ever feel the need to correct it, since it will not even be aware of that something was primarily wrong with it."

Zero seemed dumb struck, but Kaien only bowed his head.

"The cause?" He asked.

"What else could it be, Kiryuu-kun? For a race as perfect as the vampires, only inbreeding can cause this." Kaien answered.

Zero tossed the papers on the coffee table that stood between him and Aido. _I learned a totally new thing today..._ He thought with a sigh. _Something that I never thought could exist... _

"With this information, maybe you can learn who she was and what the murderer wanted from her..." Aido stood up, readying to leave.

"Just a minute there..." Zero interrupted, standing up.

"You said this is a classified information, but I am sure you have already informed the Council about it."

"Yes." Aido replied coolly.

"This means, digging through it will result in me getting access to more classified information. I don't think that your dense Council will let me know anything more than the name of the woman."

"True." Aido nodded with serious eyes. "In fact, I also came here to tell you that you will possibly be withdrawn from the case and the Council might investigate it with their own power."

Zero growled in his throat and bared his fangs dangerously.

"Then why the hell is this Bureau here? Why the hell am I working for them? What kind of a hypocritical behavior is this?"

By then, Kaien, too, was on his feet and collecting the documents into the folder. It was evident that he was expecting this outcome the moment he had heard about the genetic disorder of the victim.

Aido faced Zero grimly as if he was weighting down something in his head. Then with a small sigh he fished for his phone and speed dialed a number. Handing the phone to Kiryuu, he said, "Here is the only one that can help you... Don't make me regret this, Kiryuu."

Zero snatched the phone and exhaled briefly to calm himself. The phone was picked up in the third dial tone.

"_Aido... what is it?"_

There was a moment of hesitance as he berated himself for not expecting to hear that particular voice.

"It is me, Kiryuu." Zero bit, his eyebrows creased in an anguished scowl.

"_Kiryuu-kun..."_

The soft voice sounded equally strained from the other line. The voice of Kuran Kaname...

His sanguinary angel.

-

_TBC..._

_**AN:1)** Thanks a lot to **antediluvian** who reviewed and pointed out a few mistakes in sentence structure. **2)** I didn't delve into the reason why there is an enmity between the Kurans and the Kiryuus... It will wait for another chapter, hence the Genre:Suspense XD** 3) **Review!_


	3. Desire Has No Safety

_Phew... This chapter was a monster. It took me some time to write and edit it and I am not really happy with the result. Writing a decent interaction between Kaname and Zero is really hard without making them seem OOC and I don't know if I did a good job. But since only a few people review, I guess you readers don't care. Well, it is disappointing, but I can live with it..._

_Not Beta-ed again, all mistakes are mine. Enjoy the third chapter._

_-_

**Chapter 3: Desire Has No Safety**

Kaname was getting ready to go out when his cell rang. Normally, he wouldn't bother to answer a call just before he left for a meeting, for he hated being deterred from his agenda. But when he saw the Caller ID on the screen, he immediately stopped arranging his files and answered the call.

"Aido, what is it?"

Even though it wasn't unusual of Aido to call him, who was one of the trusted Nobles of his inner circle, this time Kaname instinctively felt that something was off when the person on the other end of the line hesitated for a second.

"_It is me, Kiryuu..."_

_Ah..._

That displeased and restrained voice of one Kiryuu Zero he had been half-expecting to hear after the early morning news delivered to him by Takuma, again one of his trusted Noble followers... Half-expecting, he noted, because Zero would never call him on his own volition and by his own means. It should have been no surprise to him to hear Zero's voice from the other line when he was expecting to listen to Aido. Then again, this was so much like the Kiryuu Zero he had come to know through the years.

If Zero called, it had to be something big, and Kaname very well knew what it was about. Yet, by no means did he intend to talk about it until Zero himself clearly said that he needed help.

_His help..._ To put it more precisely.

"Kiryuu-kun?" His voice took on a strained edge despite himself. "What is the grand occasion?" He asked, this time with a much controlled mock amusement. To his pleasure, there was a soft snort from the other line and a chain of hissed words.

"_You damn well know the occasion, ba... Kuran."_ He heard Aido's instant angry rebukes upon the word choice that Zero used for him. Kaname would certainly have chuckled humorlessly upon the half uttered insult, had he not known that Aido and god knew who else were listening their talk from the other side. Zero effectively silenced the Noble with a few words that included the mention of his _Bloody Rose_. So, Zero was not in his play-time mood. But Kaname wasn't in his benevolent mood, either.

"Don't you think you are making it more difficult for yourself, Kiryuu-kun?" He drawled, studiously continuing to pack his files in his suitcase as if he wasn't interested at all. Another barely restrained growl-like sigh was heard from Zero's side.

"_I 'need' to talk with you, Kuran."_

_There... The magic word..._

"For what?" Kaname asked curtly, enjoying the silver haired vampire's distress that nearly poured down from the receiver pressed against his ear by his shoulder.

"_Kuran, are you really sure that you are awake?"_ Zero asked after a momentary silence, changing tactics. His voice now held a sureness and calmness that made one of Kaname's eyebrows rise, impressed by the ex-human's audacity.

"I most certainly am, Kiryuu-kun. Since it is a rare occasion to hear from you, I would _never_ miss it."

"_Then you'll listen to me..."_ Zero deduced readily to himself, ignoring his blatant jibe and acting as if Kaname was the one who was calling for help.

"I don't remember telling you that I am free..." Kaname softly answered, busying his hands with papers and CDs to block out the itchy feeling he always got on them whenever Zero was on his mind.

"_So, you are purposefully being difficult. As always..."_ Zero's voice was devoid of its earlier urgency and keenness now; it was evident that he inferred calling him was a mistake and Kaname could tell that he was about to end the call.

"How much does this case mean to you, Kiryuu-kun?" Kaname asked finally. There was a heart beat's long silence on the other line.

"_I want to solve it no matter what. After all, I am a professional."_ Zero said with well placed conviction. Kaname's lips lifted lazily in a silent smile.

_No personal attachments? No idealism about saving lives? Understandable, since the victim is a vampire... What you hate the most in this world..._

"I am at the mansion and expecting you." Kaname finished.

A gruffly murmured _"Alright."_ was all he got before the line was cut.

With narrowed down eyes Kaname tossed his cell on his mahogany desk. He stood silently for a few moments, his keen ears picking up the soft sizzling sound of the falling rain, his senses easily detecting the auras of all the residents in his mansion, their footsteps... He could even feel the slight chill that invaded his Study from one of the not well closed windows. Yet, his mind wasn't registering them, all he could think about was the itchy feeling of the soft trembles on his fingers. He closed and relaxed his fists forcefully a few times and set his jaw in a perfectly controlled manner to show no emotion. When he deemed that it was now the time, he called for his personal assistant, Seiren.

Upon the soft call, the young Noble woman appeared in the Study's door, ready to do his bidding.

"Seiren, call the Vice President and tell him that I won't be attending today's meeting. He will be the one responsible of sending me the results."

"Yes, Kaname-sama." The young woman bowed slightly.

"I will most probably be occupied for a few hours, I don't want any calls."

"Is this all, Kaname-sama?"

Kaname turned towards her distractedly. As if just an after thought, he added, "And Kiryuu Zero will be here in half an hour."

Seiren nodded, understanding the message that lied beneath the small information:

_-Don't allow anyone enter here or interrupt us even when you smell blood.-_

"As you wish, Kaname-sama." The young woman closed the door silently and left swiftly.

Kaname's attention drifted thoughtfully to his open suitcase and its contents. He certainly wasn't one to shrug off his responsibilities to his employees or liked the idea of missing an important in-company meeting, but Kiryuu Zero was worthy of making exceptions in his agenda no matter how stuffed it might be.

He closed the black leather case and loosened and removed his immaculately done tie. No need to look so formal and stiff, since he now knew he was going to be in his Study for at least two hours. He approached the windows and gazed into the garden of the mansion, the sight blurred with sliding rain drops and bright lights that were arranged among the trees and the gate, illuminating a cloudy and starless sky.

He focused on his own reflection on the brilliant glass and looked into his own eyes. Of course he was aware of the reason why Zero was coming here. Zero would never come to his mansion unless he really needed to talk about something or unless Kaname forced his way to make Zero visit him. Even then, the count of Zero's visits didn't exceed the number of his fingers... His garnet eyes narrowed down slightly. Well, at least now the ex-human was not whipping out his Bloody Rose every time they met on purpose or accidentally. That was a feat Zero had learned begrudgingly through the time. Zero slowly had come to understand that he needed Kuran Kaname, the vampire prince who had turned him and changed his life upside down. He had learned that to keep living and surviving among hidden enemies who destroyed their pasts, he had to call his only visible enemy as his sire.

Kaname sighed softly. He didn't know if what he had done that night was for the better or for worse. He remembered being enthralled by the challenge in Zero's lilac eyes. He remembered finding something similar on that eight year old boy's face, something akin to the shadows that lurked deep in his own soul. He had recognized the deeply carved pain of a great loss, the insanely sought after revenge even when the boy had sensed that he had been about to die. That, Kaname could relate to; that, he could respect even in an enemy's eyes. Those lilac eyes had told volumes to him that night, and Kaname had felt gratified in picking up the offer of Cross Kaien and attending that night's Council.

Seeing that eight year old boy had helped him hold on through his years of silent torture and suppression in Ichiou household until the time he had come of age and gained his freedom legally from his ward. At times, recalling those hate and fear filled eyes, already aged beyond their time with betrayal and disappointment, had sent him the silver tread of strength he had sought for.

Was it foolish of him to derive the power he needed to hang on from a mere ex human's immortal suffering? He didn't want to think about it. Zero was his enemy in the eyes of the vampire society. His father had killed Kaname's parents after that long gone dispute between their families which had resulted in a tragedy on the Kiryuus' side that led to the murder of Kaname's parents.

It was sixteen years ago. Sixteen long years ago, Kaname was still a fifteen year old, much too young for a Pureblood and yet much too wise to not understand what had been going around his family and the political atmosphere of that time.

His parents were brave advocates of pacifism and coexistence with the humans. They had many supporters among both the vampires and even the hunters. His father Haruka and his mother Juuri had been active participants of the decisions taken concerning the vampire society during that politically chaotic time. His father had used to say that it was a Pureblood's ultimate responsibility to take life changing decisions for the future of their kind and he would some day inherit this responsibility, too.

Kaname's lips formed a rueful, sad smile with the memory. His father had known that with great responsibility there would come great enemies who had been sneaky and manipulative behind the closed doors, planning and bidding for their time until they had deemed it fit to hit him behind his back just like the cowards they had been.

The political clout that the Kuran family had held in their hands had been great. It still was... After all, their pure blood line had born many kings until one of them had decided to divide and share his power with the Vampire Council. What the Kurans would say was in fact an edict in itself but it didn't mean that a few cracked voices would not argue against them, even though what the Kurans would say was for the best of their kind. Kaname himself wasn't a despot nor a tyrant to turn away from the complaints. He was his father's son. Yet, during the events that resulted with the murder of his father and mother, he remembered that those cracked voices had been shrill and they hadn't even known what they had been rising against.

There had been open refusals, more like small-minded rebuffs towards Kurans' ideas among the vampires and the hunters. The vampires had argued that by coexistence with the humans they would have been endangering their already dwindling numbers and well kept secrets, giving the proverbial sword in the hands of their natural preys and most importantly, the idea had been scratched as being incapable of offering a bright future for the vampire society in general. The hunters had claimed that what the Kurans had been paving the way for was an expansion of their so called 'turf'. According to them, it had been a crafty plan to live side by side with their own prey which would increase the number of their potential 'food supply' and help them in outbreeding and creating their mindless soldiers, meaning Level Es, more freely...

Haruka and Juuri had managed to thwart most of these suppositions from becoming actual beliefs shared by both sides. But, the fiercest opposition had come from the Kiryuu Clan, who had been well known hunters that had descended from an ancient bloodline, acclaimed for their skills and mastery. Kaname knew the head of the family, Kiryuu Narumi, personally thanks to a meeting that had been held by Haruka during the negotiations between the opposing sides and supporting sides. Zero would never remember, but that had also been the first time that Kaname had ever seen the silver haired boy. Zero had to have been five or six years old and the encounter had been too brief for him to remember.

Kaname hadn't sensed a killing intent from the tall, silver haired hunter at that time. Narumi had been really civil, a gentleman indeed, very intelligent, as he had tossed ideas back and forth with Haruka, many people watching them with silent reverence. Kaname recalled that Narumi had been the perfect opposite of what he had assumed a hunter to be. He had not been callous, boastful of his profession, hateful towards the vampires in general, arrogant or aggressive. No wonder why he had been feared and revered by many, his name whispered even among the Nobles warily. But Kaname still couldn't believe that that man had been the killer of his parents... Two powerful Purebloods against a hunter... It was unheard of.

He closed his fist tightly against the glass pane. A soft tremor running through his lean frame. There was no way for that opposition to escalate to such an enmity between his parents and the Kiryuus that had led to the ruin of Kiryuu household and the death of his parents. Kaname knew those cracked voices were still not resting behind closed doors and would not stop until they got what they wanted, namely getting rid of him and his sister Yuuki and finding that accursed long lost relative of theirs... Kuran Rido.

Kaname and Yuuki were in relative safety now, so was Zero, the sole three survivors of that political unrest from two great families among the vampires and the hunters. But Kaname and Yuuki had had to cope with a dangerous life in Asato Ichiou's house, the man who had readily appointed himself as their ward until Kaname's coming of age. Asato was an amiable and influential elder Noble on the outside who was currently the Chairman of the Council, yet only Kaname could tell what lied beneath those ice blue eyes of his. He was the worst kind of the snakes that had the ability of hiding his poison ridden fangs under softly spoken words of alliance and devotion, yet Kaname could only hear the angry hisses of disappointment in his failed secret plans. He was sure that Asato had been the ring leader of the group which had devised the intricate plan that resulted in his parents' and Kiryuus' demise.

Saving Zero from Asato's clutches had been just a whim of his at that time. He had been too young, being only 16 then. Yet, he had been the sole male heir to the Kuran name, so his words had been obeyed. He had just wanted to spare the silver haired boy to show Asato who had been and would be in charge. At that time, Kaname had been looking for a pawn who could help him unknowingly far from the main focus of the Council. And who could have been better than the Kiryuu boy for that position? Kaname had given him a new life, a new identity besides his hunter self. He had given him an opportunity to unveil the mystery over the deaths of his family. Even though Zero recognized Kaname as his sole enemy, Kaname knew that Zero was as intelligent as his father had been and was using his position in the Bureau to secretly search for any scrap of information behind his family's ruin.

Kaname didn't know how much of the past Zero knew or about the purpose that had driven Kaname to keep him safe and alive. But what Kaname knew was the undeniable fact that Zero was slowly becoming more than just a pawn on his chess board. He would never consciously admit it to himself but Kaname was bothered too much for his liking by the slight throb in his fangs and the tell-tale tremor in his hands whenever the hunter was on his mind.

And that said hunter saw him as his sole enemy, as the devil who stripped him off of his humanity. Even after Kaname had given him his blood and stabilized him as a Level D, Zero had only cursed him more for ensuring his captivity and dependency on him. How could Kaname blame him? Yet, Zero's blood had been the sole thing to settle the feud between their families even though Kaname still had his suspicions that Kiryuu Narumi had not been the the murderer of his parents no matter how talented and masterful had the hunter been, no matter what kind of vengeance had he been seeking.

Kaname sighed for the second time as his mind traveled back to the present to realize that the rain had stopped whilst he had been deep in thought. One of his eyebrows rose slightly when he saw the pearl white Mustang of the silver haired young man he had been thinking about pass from the front gate. So, it was time for yet another long night which he couldn't decide whether he looked forward to or dreaded from spending with Zero's company.

-

Zero refrained himself from looking up at the windows of the room in which he knew Kuran was waiting for him as he got off his car and took the case file with him. Sometime during his ride, the rain had stopped and it was actually a relief from the continuous and depressing downpour that seemed to follow him where ever he went. His mood was sour and this was the place he wanted to be in the least, but what Kuran's power could offer was a thing he was unable to toss away with the back of his hand.

He was indeed seething with anger towards the Council for their audacity in placing themselves above the police order and law, something they did every so often even though they were the supporters of the establishment of the Bureau and many other organizations that worked for the general government in the name of both the vampires and the hunters. Kuran was the initiator of the idea, of course. According to him, working with the human government systems and being willingly incident on the regulations of the humans were great steps towards the coexistence ideals that his parents had been pursuing. The presence of the Bureau was an example of it within the police force. There were schools, hospitals, courts, firms that worked for both the vampires and the humans, with the authorities managing to keep a spectacular balance between keeping the secret of the vampires from the ordinary citizens and continuing their services. Though the number of these foundations were still small, Zero guessed, the success was understandable since there were really powerful hunters, Nobles, and Purebloods holding great positions in the Parliament, in business arenas of all kinds, and in the social life.

He begrudgingly respected Kuran for being able to even employ the hunters who shared the same ideals with him and open them the door for pursuing different careers along with their blood-inherited profession, namely killing the vampires. Zero was one of them and he hated Kuran for that.

Because Kuran had given him a purpose in life after smashing everything into pieces that Zero called his.

He hurried pass the great front doors and Seiren, whom Zero had seen many times beside the Pureblood, escorted him silently to where ever Kuran was waiting for him as if Zero himself didn't know his way in the mansion. Nevertheless, he followed silently, feeling the slight pain in his tracheal area intensifying with his growing distress. He certainly needed that damnable delivery soon, or he knew very well that even if he downed a gallon of blood tablets, it wouldn't be able to suppress his need for the actual stuff.

The corridors were dimly lit as usual and everywhere was silent, but Zero could tell the activity going on in different rooms of the great house. He hated this place, for the house seemed to have a life of its own as if it breathed along with its masters through the time. Zero always felt trapped, unwanted and alien in this lavishly decorated, Victorian style building with its fake warmness and ancient beauty. _Just like its current lord..._

Seiren opened the door of what Zero recognized as the Pureblood's Study after a soft knock and introduced him. He gritted his teeth behind the tall woman, despising the overdone formality.

"Kiryuu Zero is here."

Zero didn't even wait for permission. He walked pass the gray haired young woman and entered the brightly lit room. Though outwardly he looked his usual casual self, he hoped that Kuran wouldn't realize how edgy he was and how he was trying to ignore the faint pain in his chest.

Kaname turned towards him and raised his hand in silent dismissal for Seiren. The door was closed behind Zero who was still standing only a few feet beyond the entrance, his eyes sweeping through the room for a second before landing on Kuran.

"I won't take much of your time, Kuran." He spoke with narrowed eyes, bypassing any form of civil greeting.

Kaname smiled lazily to hide his discomfort with closed lips to not reveal his aroused fangs. Even with the large distance between him and Zero in his spacious Study, the ex-human's unique scent invaded his senses and he cursed his body silently for giving such a reaction for the mere sight of the hunter. Judging by the distance where Zero was standing, the hunter had to be still wary of approaching him until he deduced that the Pureblood meant no harm.

Really... What was Zero taking him as? A beast, who liked mauling his chosen prey from time to time and never letting it die so that he could brutalize it again and again?_ Most probably..._

"Never been a person of petty greetings, yes, Kiryuu-kun?" He commented dryly and offered him a chair before his table as he sat down and made himself comfortable.

Zero ignored him as usual, though his brows furrowed slightly. After a heart beat's hesitation he approached and took the offered chair. He would very much like to keep standing and get the hell away from this place after finishing his business, but he guessed Kuran was not about to let him get easily what he had come here for.

"How have you been?" Kaname asked, eyes intently studying the hunter's paler than usual face. Zero resisted from twitching in his seat under the scrutiny. Instead, he levelly returned the gaze with a serious face.

"No need to humor me, Kuran. Forget the pleasantries. You know what I came here for."

"But what if I want to be humored?" Kaname asked softly, long hands clasped before his face. Zero growled softly in his throat and averted his eyes in mounting annoyance.

"I am fine, okay? And I can see you are fine, too, since you are obviously getting a kick from just wasting our time."

"You know I never considered it a waste if that time is spent with you, Kiryuu-kun." Kaname said truthfully. Even though Zero's eyes momentarily widened upon the sincere look on Kaname's face, the reaction was quickly squeezed and he mistook the words for another jibe from the Pureblood.

"You are impossible." Zero muttered as he motioned to get up and leave. _What did I expect from this bastard?_ Kuran was just toying with him as usual.

"Is that the case file you are holding?" Kaname asked as if he didn't see that Zero was about to leave. Zero's head quickly whipped towards him and he gazed into his eyes, looking for a hint of ill intent. Obviously this time seeing none, he exhaled softly and open the folder before Kaname.

"You know what it is about, don't you?" Zero looked up from the papers, slightly leaning on the table, apparently forgetting that he hated being close to Kaname less than ten feet. Kaname nodded and Zero was not surprised, for the Pureblood was one of the few Family Leaders who had many followers in his responsibility and many of the cases concerning a vampire would be reported to him by the Bureau.

"More or less."

It was a lie. Kaname knew every single detail about the case, had read Zero's and Aido's reports on their findings and there was a folder in his leather suitcase which included the name and the familial information of the Noble victim. Yet, he was not going to talk about it until he heard the things from Zero's own lips.

Why he was being this childish, he didn't know. He wanted Zero to talk to him, talk to him as if he didn't remember that he hated him with all his soul, wanted him to sit there and just be there, letting him soak in his presence as if they were not enemies or as if he was not Zero's master and Zero was not just a pawn for him. This was just ridiculous from whichever angle he looked at it.

Zero was fearing him, he could smell it; Zero was loathing him, he could see it in those lilac eyes; Zero was needing him... He could sense the faint pain that arrested the hunter's chest... But that was all... And Kaname hated it... Hated himself for feeling disappointed with it.

"I will go over it for you to better understand, Kuran."

Zero started to talk, retelling him unknowingly all the details that Kaname already knew. It was clear in his body language that he was enjoying talking, but not like the way Aido or any other Noble would enjoy talking to him. Zero was enjoying it, because it was a means of filling the gap between the strange roaring sound of his blood in his ears. He was taking his time, for he didn't want to hear his own harsh heart beats and didn't want to look into the eyes of Kuran from this proximity. He didn't want to encounter pity, disdain in those garnet eyes or that silent look which told him that this man was owning him, his life, his future. He could deal with the hatred, but what he sometimes caught in the depths of Kuran's eyes made him falter, made him shudder deep inside and he was left puzzled every time he tried to put a name on it but failed. Even though each time he caught that look, he felt a thin tread of fear, he also experienced a ridiculous sense of disappointment when he could not hold that gaze enough to put a name on it. And he hated himself for feeling this way about the Pureblood.

Minutes ticked by, Zero showing Kaname pictures of the crime scene and the reports of the lab results, Kaname silently watching his every move. He was aware that Zero could most certainly feel his intense gaze on him, but it didn't deter him. Actually, it was a small feat for him to finally realize that Zero was now talking directly to him, papers and pictures left on the dark table, forgotten for the moment.

"A vampire is killing another of their kind and the Council wants to solve the problem by their own means... So, was this the reason they let you found the Bureau? Ignoring the cases that included a vampire as an assailant but cover up their naked butts when the victim is also a vampire..."

Zero's wording of the situations concerning the Council never ceased to amuse Kaname.

"You could say that, Kiryuu-kun." He leaned back in his chair, studying Zero's tense face whilst he barely showed any emotion at all.

"This is ridiculous, Kuran... Haven't they already agreed that this kind of things are under our jurisdiction? What are they trying to cover up this time?" Zero asked more to himself, there was a picture of the victim close to where his hand rested on the table and he reached for it.

"Many things, actually." Kaname murmured distractedly. "You, an outsider for them, found out that the victim had a genetic disorder... Can you imagine what it means in our society, to carry an illness like that?"

Zero's attention turned towards the young Pureblood. Kuran's poise was relaxed as usual but Zero could tell he was actually tense and dead serious. Under the brilliant lights they shared a gaze and Kaname leaned forward slowly.

"Do you know what vampires used to do to their deficient offsprings, Kiryuu-kun?" He asked almost in a hiss. Zero felt rooted on his chair upon the quality of the tone Kaname used. His skin prickled slightly as if the Pureblood was intentionally chilling the air surrounding them.

"They used to kill them. As soon as they understood that the child was ill or imperfect in some way or other..."

Zero's eyes widened with open dread and disgust. That was what Kaname expected to see if nothing else. Zero was not a born vampire and he was unaware of many long gone practices that the vampire society kept as a secret through the centuries. Kaname was not proud of some of them, yet, he was not one to deny their existence or sugar coat them, either.

"This is barbaric..." Zero whispered to himself, still looking at the Pureblood as if captivated by the words that poured down from his lips.

"Yes, it was... Think, Kiryuu-kun. Vampires are the upper most link on the food chain. They are deemed as the ultimate predators. They are perfect. We consider ourselves as perfect. We must be so... Our bodies are conditioned to survive even in the most extreme of situations. We age so slowly that years become decades, decades turn into centuries but we change so little. We are even wary of each other, may be more than humans are cautious of one another. Power is something that we are born into and expected to use. But when one of us is born with a defect that we cannot heal from, that we could even pass to our own offsprings, what happens then, Kiryuu-kun?"

Kaname's lips formed a tight line as he observed the emotions that played across Zero's face. It was hard for him to talk about this with Zero with a faint flicker of hope in his chest that wished to be not automatically grouped with the mentality he was talking about. He wished that Zero was somehow able to see that Kaname was not one of them even though he used _'we' _throughout his explanation. He silently berated himself for it when he saw the instinctively guarded look that Zero was giving him.

"We hasten the course of natural selection, Kiryuu-kun... Yes, we kill them..." He finished.

Zero felt his hands tremble on the arms of the chair even as he gripped them tightly.

"We..." He muttered.

Kaname could have sighed ruefully were he alone.

"Yes, we... Since I believe you would still consider me as belonging to this kind of mental frame even when I told you that what I was trying to cast down was this side of the vampire society."

Zero didn't answer to that, he couldn't see any redeeming quality in a vampire's frame of mind. He didn't understand how it worked, how it rationalized the things he considered as blatant violence, arrogance and abuse. And he preferred staying in that way.

He averted his eyes from the sincere look on Kuran's face, feeling the chilling aura of the older vampire slowly dissipate, leaving its place to a fake sense of comfort which was, he was sure, Kuran's doing.

"Just like animals..." He commented dryly, trying to relax. He didn't see the slight flicker of pain that crossed Kaname's eyes.

"In old times, having a family member in this kind of condition was a great disadvantage for the Families. A Noble who is unable to walk... Or even has a disfigurement on their hands or anywhere visible... You can never guess how that could be exploited, Kiryuu-kun. A weak member is a burden, more importantly, a sacrilege... A glaring target to hit and abuse. They were seen as invalids that could only bring misery and ruin to their families."

"How can someone kill off their own children even if they bring them their ruin?" Zero opposed with such an abhorrence written on his features that Kaname second guessed himself about how wise it was to tell him all these.

"This is practiced no longer, Kiryuu-kun." He added and realized that it sounded like a pathetic attempt to amend the situation. He inwardly grimaced at having no clear way of making Zero understand a vampire's point of view in life even though he himself couldn't turn away from the reality.

Zero snorted with narrowed down eyes, their color a harsh violet now.

"It can't amend the past now, Kuran." He shook his silver head slowly.

"It certainly can't." Kaname conceded thoughtfully.

"I thought that your kind faced the danger of extinction many centuries ago because of outbreeding. How come you could have this kind of genetic disorders? It is beyond my comprehension." Zero said to change the unpleasant subject. His eyes were full of renewed curiosity.

Kaname thought that he liked the attentiveness that Zero showed to the subject. It was understandable that he didn't know most of the vampire history. But for the sake of this case, he was apparently ready to forget that he wouldn't want anything to do with the _'damnable'_ history of the _'bloodsuckers'_, to put it as Zero would do.

"It is true. Vampires faced a great threat a few thousand years ago because of outbreeding. Many Nobles and Purebloods took a great number of human thralls and their bloodline slowly started to diminish and lose their purity. A great deal of Noble bloodlines were lost and Purebloods were affected, too. But when the danger became extremely threatening, precautions were taken."

"You mean inbreeding..." Zero interrupted. Kaname narrowed down his eyes a bit when he found the same scorn and disgust in the ex-human's eyes renewed.

"Yes, Kiryuu-kun. Intermarriage became common and encouraged."

Zero couldn't find the words proper to express his feelings towards the subject that Kaname was arguing as if it was a trivial thing.

"Even incest turned out to be like that, you say..."

"I don't expect you to understand it, Kiryuu." Kaname coldly stopped Zero. "For us vampires, especially Purebloods, gender or sex doesn't mean anything. Also familial ties doesn't mean a lot. But you have a human heritage; incest, sodomy and intermarriage are scorned in your society. Yet, what humans think never concerned the vampires in the past and I am afraid it won't concern them in the future, either."

Zero suddenly felt as if he was sitting in a freezer. He didn't know why the Pureblood suddenly became touchy upon the subject. He didn't want to think that there was an underlying reason to it concerning his family. But then again, he admitted that he wouldn't be surprised if there was any. He was not one to put his nose into other people's preferences and business, but this subject was too disturbing for him to even bring himself to understand it.

"Did the vampire society go through a population bottleneck?" He diverted the attention from the subject and tried to school his face to hide his discomfort and revulsion. "I don't think that only inbreeding could result in such hereditary disorders..."

Kaname got up from his seat, slightly impressed by the ability of the hunter to change the subject from unpleasant and relatively dangerous subjects so quickly and effectively. He went by the windows and continued to speak, his body half way turned towards where the hunter was still sitting and watching him.

"You are right. There had been a severe bottleneck a few centuries ago, or so it reads in our history books. Times have changed. Vampires do live in small communities now. Each community is lead by a few Purebloods and followed by Nobles and other lower levels. These communities are spread all around the world yet they are generally disconnected from each other."

His face turned towards Zero and caught his gaze. "The number of Purebloods is a well kept secret but I can say that our number is continuously diminishing, Kiryuu-kun." Zero's eyes widened at the information given to him.

"So, this recent population bottleneck further fueled the intermarriages, and coupled with the founder effect, the diversity in the gene pool quickly waned, increasing the possibility of ill offsprings to born."

"But..." Zero interfered again, "Where do the mutated genes come from?" As soon as he asked the question, he realized what the answer was. Kaname saw the realization in the hunter's eyes and didn't utter a word; Zero supplied the answer for them.

"From the humans that they had married long long before..."

A thoughtful silence fell on them. Zero gazed at the photo of the victim with the corner of his eye. She was unfortunate from the beginning. It was a first for him to feel pity towards a vampire but at that moment, Zero actually felt pity for her.

"The Council is trying to cover this..." Zero murmured to himself and then choked a humorless laugh. "The bastards must be thinking that she was an abomination of nature and her death didn't need to be the concern of an organization which partially belonged to humans... Especially when the murderer is someone from their own kind."

He raised his head and directed his harsh eyes towards Kaname. "Will you let them cover this, Kuran?"

Kaname slowly turned towards him and exhaled briefly as his eyes swept over the rigid form of Zero, who was half turned towards him, eyes full of hatred and challenge.

"This murderer knows what he does. He is strong, he is knowledgeable of at least basic medicine, he is ruthless and has a sadistic sense of art... You saw the pictures, the woman... She was like a well carved statue among those heaps of ice... She was like a mermaid. She was probably an incapacitated who couldn't use her legs because of that illness... This man was mocking her! And those bastards sitting in that hell hole must be thinking of letting the man get away with it, just because she was what she was..."

A thrill traveled down Kaname's spine upon sensing Zero's swirling aura, filled with iron determination and a proud sense of justice. So, the _no personal attachments_ theory of his was wrong... Zero never fell short of proving him wrong and he admitted that he appreciated this quality of the young hunter. He bowed his head slightly, brows furrowed, dark eyes like newly sharpened knives...

"I won't, Kiryuu... You can be assured of this..." He promised. _Just like I won't let my revenge lay on the ground, unclaimed... _And he let himself revel in the assured look that crossed Zero's pale face.

"So, you're going to make them rethink their decision on this case's future?" Zero asked as if he needed more assurance upon the subject.

"Rethink?" Kaname raised one of his brows. "There is nothing to rethink... This is a great offense committed against the values of both kinds... It must be solved by the police and the crime must be punished by the law... Not by the Council..." Zero could feel the venom hidden under the softly spoken words of the Pureblood and he relaxed against his chair. He was somehow feeling grateful that Kuran was holding such a power over things. And it was a rare occasion for him to feel like that. Normally he would hate it with all his soul that the Pureblood's mere words could destroy and build so many things if he so desired.

Kaname walked back to his table with a thought on his mind. From the corner of his eye, he was watching the hunter as he collected the documents of the case into their respective folders. It was evident that Zero was preparing to leave, for he had now obtained the support he had come to seek from him. Apparently, he didn't want to be here any longer after finishing his business. So Zero-like... But Kaname thought otherwise.

While the hunter was arranging his files, he quickly took a thin file from his leather suitcase and he called for Seiren. The young Noble appeared a few seconds later and Zero thought that Kuran had called her just to show him the way out. Well, it suited him just fine. He didn't want to outstay his welcome; more than that, he didn't want to spend time with the Pureblood any longer since his business with him finished and staying more would just be awkward and agitating for Zero.

"Seiren, I would like a service for two prepared for us in the small dining room. I will have my lunch here and Kiryuu-kun will accompany me."

Zero's head quickly snapped towards Kaname.

"No... Thanks..." He muttered, trying to be civil and with that trying to get away more easily. "I have to go."

Kaname didn't miss the look of alarm in the lilac eyes and those furrowed brows.

"I think Kiryuu-kun and I will prefer the second menu." He added for Seiren's ears, but looking at Zero's eyes.

"I still have something to discuss with Kiryuu-kun anyhow..." Kaname discreetly showed the first page of the file he was holding to Zero and watched his reaction.

Zero's brows rose and an angry look passed over his features when he saw that the file was about the victim's identity information. Kuran was using the information to persuade him to eat lunch -well, a very late dinner in his case- with him.

_This is cheap... _Zero thought. _Kuran must be aware that I am dying to get out of here and he is just trying to make it worse for me... Why does he have to twist me around his fingers like this?_

Kaname was aware the way how Zero must have been perceiving this... As a done deal with the information being the proverbial carrot he dangled out for Zero. It wasn't fair, but secretly he was worrying for Zero's amounting thirst that he could feel even though the hunter was doing a good job of hiding and suppressing it.

Zero considered just leaving the mansion flat out. He could certainly find that information by his own means, yet he knew it would take him a few days to do so. And he was in Kuran's debt for having his support against the Council.

He expressed his willingness -even though a little forced- with a nod and realized that Seiren had already left while he was thinking.

"This was sly..." Zero whispered dryly, his distaste clear in his tone. "How much of the case you have already known before making me tell it to you?"

With their files in their hands, Zero was following Kaname out of his Study, not seeing the satisfied look on the Pureblood's eyes.

"All of it." There was no longer a need to hide it. He felt Zero stop in the corridor and turned his head towards him to catch the quickly squashed shock in Zero's eyes. Shock left its place to anger immediately.

"Are you toying with me, Kuran?" He asked in a hiss.

"Why, Kiryuu-kun? I only wanted to hear it from your own perspective. And you can't deny that you got a free history lesson on vampires thanks to the way how your mind provided questions and insights on the case while you were talking to me."

Zero grimaced, feeling his chest ache and throat contract slightly with his suppressed anger.

"You always have your reasons, don't you?"

Kaname went down the corridor, taking the lead.

"Just as everyone, Kiryuu-kun. No more than that..."

Zero pressed his lips into a thin line and resumed his walk, passing a corner behind the Pureblood.

Kaname opened an ornate door and waited for Zero to enter first. As usual, Zero stopped after a few feet into the room and watched Kaname walk towards a table which was situated near a brightly burning fireplace, service pieces already set for two. This room was dimmer and smaller, the fireplace providing a welcoming heat from the chilling air. It seemed somehow... less business-like and cozier. Kaname was waiting for Zero to come and sit, expectant. And Zero didn't like it.

Despite everything, Zero approached, put his folder on the further side of the table and sat, his eyes not meeting Kaname's. The warmth from the fireplace quickly seeped to his bones and for the first time in many hours, Zero realized how tired and cold he had been. His gaze stuck themselves on the dancing flames and he felt the pain in his chest slowly settle into a more ignorable level. Maybe a few blood tablets before the meal might help in diminishing the disturbing feeling, too.

Kaname sat opposite to Zero and while he waited for their lunch to be brought in, he let his eyes wander over Zero's features. They were soft now. The orange glow of the flames were making the hunter look like he was more relaxed and as if in deep thought. But what Kaname liked most was those translucent eyes of the ex-human. They were now a shade between gold and amethyst and they were calming to look at. It was hard to tear away his eyes from them. But he quickly checked himself when a staff entered the room and started serving their lunch from a small trolley.

Zero watched the woman distractedly. When she set the glass decanter near Zero's side, he quickly went for filling his glass. He took out the small box from his shirt's pocket and dissolved a few tablets quickly. Unaware that Kaname was following his every move, he downed the mix in a few gulps. His attention quickly turned back to the older vampire before him when Kaname asked,

"Are you feeling well, Kiryuu-kun?"

Zero realized that he had been watched and felt slightly uneasy because of that.

"Yeah, I am fine." He murmured, thinking that he was giving everyone the same answer as if on autopilot. Nevertheless, the mix quickly erased most of the pain and Zero sighed internally upon the relief.

Kaname didn't wait for Zero to begin and took a bite from his meal. The staff member bowed slightly at him and asked if it was suitable to his tastes or if he would like the first menu. Zero looked at the woman, wondering.

"What was on the first one?"

"Roasted steak and vegetables." She replied. Zero barely kept himself from biting his lower lip in disgust. And his eyes quickly widened upon realization. Kuran purposefully had chosen the second one for Zero's sake... He knew that the ex-human hated red meat and instead had chosen the menu with turkey meat in it. Zero couldn't decide how to feel about this small jest.

While he was gazing at his plate, Kaname sent away the staff member.

"You don't seem fine, Kiryuu-kun." He observed.

"I... Thanks..." Zero mumbled, he wanted to bite his tongue upon the word _'thanks'_, yet seeing a rare done piece of steak would certainly make him gag. Red meat always disturbed him, made him remember blood, made him recall past scenes of carnage. So, he was really thankful for being spared from seeing it.

To forget about the disturbing imagery that his mind came up with, he tried to make small talk.

"So, how is Yuuki....-san?" Addressing a Pureblood with only their name before their brother wouldn't do, no matter how awkward talking about Yuuki so formally seemed to him.

Kaname took a sip from his own blood tablet mix, and quirked an eyebrow upon Zero's word choice.

"You know, Yuuki would be livid if she heard how you call her even in private."

Zero scoffed. Yuuki was the only vampire he ever met that he somehow enjoyed being in their company. Yuuki was a cheerful and sweet girl, her innocence making Zero forget that she was indeed a Pureblood and Kuran's younger sister, the man who was the opposite of what she was in Zero's eyes.

"She is fine... She wants to see you again." Kuran muttered, knowing very well that were it not for Zero's hatred towards him, the two would meet and spend time regularly, for he could tell that Yuuki had a completely different page than his own in Zero's book.

"Tell her my regards, then." Zero continued his meal. His fingers were itching to grab the file from Kaname's side to learn about the victim, but he managed to be composed.

"You know you can come anytime to visit her." Kaname went on. "She is worrying about you."

Zero looked up. There was a distant glint of something in Kuran's eyes, as if he was trying to say something without actually using the words he needed.

"There is nothing to worry. I am doing just fine." Zero grumbled. "Why this sudden interest in my well being, Kuran?" He was becoming aggravated with this mock care.

"How long has it been since you got the real stuff, Kiryuu-kun?" Kaname pressed on, stopping eating and reaching for his fruity dessert with a calmness he knew would infuriate Zero.

Zero felt livid, suddenly feeling offended.

"Will you stop treating me as if I am some animal who can't control himself?" He hissed, seriously considering just getting up and leaving the damn place all together.

"You look unusually pale and I can tell it when you are this close that you need blood."

"Are you doing this on purpose to humiliate me? I am eating with you here, dammit! What more do you want before you give me the papers?"

Kaname's eyes narrowed down in apparent annoyance, the dessert knife in his hand gripped tightly.

"Why do you have to think that I have got an ulterior motive every time I inquire your health, Kiryuu?"

"Because you enjoy acting like giving a damn about it. Does it flatter your tremendous ego to know that I am in need of _it_, knowing that you are the only one who can provide it?"

Zero stopped eating, his silverware making clinking sounds as he dropped them harshly on his plate.

"What if I really do care?" Kaname asked.

Zero just smirked dangerously. Why things always had to go out of hand when he was near Kuran? He could feel the irritation in the Pureblood's aura. It was sharp and scratching at the ache in his throat with invisible talons.

"Yeah, right... This was a mistake, Kuran... I am outstaying my welcome here." He motioned to get up but suddenly a distinct smell hit his senses like an eighteen wheeler. He froze and with wide eyes instinctively searched for the source.

Kaname had apparently cut his thumb with the edge of his knife that he had been gripping as if he wanted to break it. The red liquid was oozing from the cut down the white table cloth, dyeing it and Zero's eyes a vivid hue of crimson.

Zero's stomach gave a lurch and he quickly sat down to balance himself, shock and hurt written all over his face.

"You... You are a bastard, Kuran..." He managed through clenched teeth.

Kaname tried to keep his face impassive as he watched Zero's pain. He stretched out his hand, wrist up, and offered it to Zero.

"Don't let it waste, Kiryuu..." He murmured, trying to coax the hunter to take his fill before he left even though what he had done seemed too cruel even for his tastes.

Zero's now crimson colored eyes widened further when the Pureblood grabbed the handkerchief from his velvet jacket's pocket and put it carefully under his wrist before making a long gash over it with his nails.

He watched, mesmerized, as the blood flowed from the wound, caught by the white cloth, tempting him cruelly at his weakest. The room felt suffocating, the fireplace no longer provided a comfort but only served to make Zero feel like boiling in his own blood. Yet he was trembling with a chill at the same time.

This was cruel, this was just a show for Kuran with which he could exert his power and hold over him... By using what Zero desired the most. He felt humiliation clutch at his insides, making him feel sick. He bolted from the table, forgetting the folders, right hand firmly clasped over his mouth, trying to hide his throbbing fangs as if he could still deny the inescapable fact that he was desperate to quell the ache in his chest and stomach.

He shouldn't have stayed, he should have known better.

Just as he was about to grab the door knob, a vice like hand gripped his left hand. Zero panicked, hastily and harshly trying to free his hand from Kaname's hold by turning towards him with a jerk. The violent tug resulted in three long gashes across the upper part of his hand as Kaname tried to hold on but couldn't succeed and his slightly elongated nails drew Zero's blood.

Zero shuddered violently upon the pain and the intensified smell of blood on the air. His knees gave way under him and he fell, breathing harshly through softly hissed curses, cradling his injured hand in his chest, head bowed.

Kaname was shocked upon the sight he had caused, face paled and eyes tinted a violent shade of crimson upon the scent of Zero's blood. He, too, was trembling, hands covered with his own blood and Zero's. Zero's fallen form both excited him and hurt him irrevocably. And he felt frightened by the mixed sensation. He would always manage to find a brilliant way to mess things up, wouldn't he?

Zero raised his head and looked at him as if he could murder him with just his eyes.

"Are you satisfied now, Kuran?" He rasped, trying to get up and failed. "When all you want is to see me like this, you can still lie about caring..."

_You would only care for me just like you would care for your dog!_

Kaname couldn't find any words to counter that. He closed his crimson eyes, trying desperately to suppress his desire for Zero's blood. He could tell that the wound was still bleeding, beckoning him with its most desired scent as if he had been thirsting for it for ages. Which was indeed, true.

He, too, fell on his knees, silently reaching out for Zero's hurt hand. But when Zero saw the color of his eyes and those ivory fangs between Kaname's slightly parted lips, he felt truly afraid for the first time since he had come there. He tried to bolt again, forcing his uncooperative reflexes. But Kaname was quick and he caught him from his arm again. Zero couldn't suppress a gasp, thinking that Kaname was going to bite him. His greatest fear resurfacing.

But Kaname didn't have such an intention. He just wanted to stop his bleeding and ease away the pain he had caused. He lowered his head in an attempt to show that he meant no harm and tugged Zero's bleeding hand, feeling the tremors running through Zero's arm. The handkerchief that he had used to wipe his blood was still in his hand. Even though he could heal the still bleeding wound with his power, he knew that Zero would die first before he let him use it, for Kaname needed to use his lips and saliva for that.

Kaname quickly and gently dressed the wound with the silk cloth and tied the ends, inferring that Zero had to be really thirsty for his wound to not close immediately. But he also knew that Zero would now never take from him after seeing the look in his eyes, which told of a desire even he himself was afraid of, swirling in their brown depths.

He held the wounded hand in his own and looked at the hunter. The mix of emotions in Zero's eyes made his heart sink further in his throat. The equally crimson eyes were full of hatred, brokenness and fear with a small hint of surprise in them.

"You shouldn't have jerked your hand that harshly, I didn't mean to hurt you." He spoke with a thick voice. Zero's anguished look only intensified as if he didn't believe a word he uttered or a look on his face that betrayed how down he felt at the moment. Zero would never trust him. He would never understand that the sadness he dared to express only in his company was actually real, as real as the blood that was shed tonight.

"You have a sick sense of hospitality, Kuran." Zero spat, taking his hand back as if he was touching vermin. He got up despite the pain and made his way towards the door, aware that his eyes still glowed in that accursed color.

"The folders will be at your desk tomorrow morning." Kaname whispered while the hunter passed through the door. Zero didn't even say a word and left as quickly as possible, leaving Kaname standing mutely in the middle of the room, the door closing on him.

Kaname was still trembling, his hands itching with the soft tremors that ran through his bloody fingers. The intense yearning in his eyes never dissipating even when he could tell that Zero was already out of the front door. Despite himself, he went to the windows and gazed down at the garden as Zero drove away through the gate.

Small rain drops started to hit the panes and his breath fogged the cold glass. Without tearing his eyes away from the sight, Kaname raised his trembling right hand, the one he had accidentally wounded the hunter with. The smell was still there, Zero's smell, and the thick liquid was still wetly clinging on his pale digits.

With closed eyes, Kaname cursed himself and his foolishness. His trembling lips closed on his fingers and he sucked on the blood, his lean frame shaking upon the taste. The taste that he could never erase from his mind no matter what he had done. He was thirsting for it and even though he would never admit to himself, he was also _hungering_ for the flesh it came from. In the most unutterable ways...

Lightning dyed everything white in a sudden flash and the rain intensified against the disturbed night.

Kaname knew that he had no safety as long as this impossible yearning remained within his soul. Because, desire was the cause of man's destruction and he was already cursed by it in the form of a silver haired hunter.

_TBC..._

_-_

**Founder Effect:**_ The loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population._ _The cause might be the separation of the group from the main population due to climate, location, migration, or isolation problems. _

_-_


	4. Find Me In The Dark

**AN: **_God... 23 frigging pages on Word...This monster is the longest thing I've ever written in a sitting. I hope you guys won't fall asleep in the middle of it. The pace of the plot is slowing down, I know. But I had to give a final long flashback, because many of the elements in it will be used as plot devices later on as the story progresses. The flashback scene is marked with my usual _"**-0-0-**". _And I am sorry if the last part of this chapter is boring, but it was also necessary._

_A dear reviewer asked me if Zero and Kaname are blood bonded, since Kaname drank from him and let Zero have his blood to stabilize him. My answer is NO. In this fic, creating a blood bond requires a ceremony of sorts; simply drinking blood doesn't create it. Here, Zero's fate is tied to Kaname by his seal and blood because he is technically Kaname's ex-human slave. Sure, the boys are attuned to each other to some level, sensitive to each other's moods and proximity... But nothing more than that. This issue will be more clear when the time comes._

_I used a few Latin words in this chapter, but note that I am not knowledgeable on it, I just used them for the plot's sake. Don't complain if you are a Latin expert XD_

_Not Beta-ed, enjoy and try to stay awake to give me a review.... _

-

**Chapter 4: Find Me In The Dark**

Zero had had to stop twice whilst driving. Each time, he had leaned his head on the leather decorated steering wheel, panting silently and sweating coldly. The rain had been his companion again, the soft drip-drop sounds nearly swallowed by the hum of the still running engine of his white Mustang.

He felt terrible. He felt sick to his core, his hands trembling over the smooth surface of the steering wheel. But more than anything, he felt afraid. The headlights of the passing cars were disturbing him, the sound created by the speeding cars aggravated his acute hearing. The soft tremors he felt whenever a truck or some other large vehicle passed by his car made his stomach flip flop.

When lightning rumbled over him like an unleashed wild animal, he gasped, feeling the pain in his chest resisting to his persistent denial, feeling something primeval and tenacious awakening in him. He cursed himself loudly to hear something other than the hypnotic mixture of the noises surrounding him. And the cracked, tormented quality of his own voice somehow helped him grasp the reality of now.

His hand quickly went for his tablet box and he swallowed several of the foul tasting pills dry. He wished he had had some water near him to make them take effect more quickly, but that had to wait for when he reached his home.

Feeling suffocated in his car, he practically threw himself out, heedless of the passersby, heedless of the pouring rain. Discarding his coat into the driver's seat, Zero took a few steps towards the back of his car and stood under the rain. Getting soaked seemed like a good idea at that moment. In fact, anything that could occupy his mind other than the blood lust he was going through now was a good idea.

Rain drops quickly drenched his white shirt, the chilling feeling making him shudder pleasantly even though he had already been feeling frozen to the core. With one hand resting on the sleek surface of the Mustang's trunk, Zero waited for his thirst to subside and for his fears to go away.

Every time he felt like this, he wished he could just lock himself up somewhere where no one could approach him, where he could see no one. Spending the prime of his youth struggling in the clutches of this terrible yearning had made him develop a fear of losing himself in its madness and biting some clueless, innocent person just to cease the torment it caused. Ending an unsuspecting life because of this... Causing others pain and suffering because of the animal that nestled deep inside him... These ideas resulted in such a fear that it had consumed his youth until Kuran Kaname, his grace, had come to the sudden revelation that finally it had been time for Zero to be stabilized as a Level D.

Life sucked... Royally.

Zero ran his numb hand over the pear white, glistening surface of his car, trying to suppress the anger. The object of his hatred was away now and feeding the amounting rage with the thoughts of him only served to make Zero feel more pain and much more closer to the edge. He didn't have the clear head to sort out his feelings about the Pureblood now. He doggedly refused to think about what transpired between them tonight. Being calm and thinking about Kuran at the same time were things he could never succeed at while he was in this state.

Rain adored him with its chilly drops and his acute senses somehow simmered down as the tablets' effect took its sweet time to kick in. Lightning continued to illuminate the road and slowly, the idea of a warm bed and the forgetfulness of sleep beckoned his weary mind and body, making him forget about blood and his agitation. For sure, tomorrow when he got into his car, he would hate the smell of the damp leather, but he didn't care about it a bit now and got in.

Now his lean frame was trembling because of the cold and wet state he was in, his shirt clinging on his body, his silver hair dripping cold drops... But this was a welcome change from the earlier reason of his violent shudders and uncontrollable tremors. He drove away as lethargy seeped to his bones.

When Zero reached his flat, he forwent both his habitual hot shower and his light supper. His limbs felt laden with fatigue, his eyes felt heavy with much needed sleep. He didn't even check his answering machine. He barely had the patience and strength to towel his hair, change into warm pajamas and sit on his bed. After preparing himself a glass of dissolved tablets, he rested silently on the edge of the soft mattresses and glanced at his alarm clock.

It was nearly 3.00 am in the morning. Twirling the glass in his hands, his shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes.

"Way to end a night, ne Kiryuu?" He murmured to himself. He was still cold, still aching and still angry. But what reigned over all these was the emptiness he was feeling inside. He very well knew that it was a waste of his time to think about the reason of it, to remember the cause of it. But the silk handkerchief wrapped around his hand still gave off the intoxicating smell of a certain Pureblood's life essence.

Zero exhaled shakily, contemplating on discarding the soft cloth into the depths of his waste bin. Yet something in him, something he could not fathom clearly with his hazy mind, was preventing him from doing so.

The pale red liquid in the glass was shimmering under the dim light of the room as if his hands were still slightly shaking. Zero simply couldn't bring himself to drink the substitute liquid even though his body was practically screaming for it.

The Pureblood's smell had been mixed with his own, yet his senses were only able to recognize the brunette's distinct scent. Sure, his own blood's smell had a certain effect on him just like any other person's blood did, but it was Kaname's blood that teased his senses mercilessly and imprinted itself to his mind indelibly.

And Kaname knew it.

Zero's tired eyes widened a fraction upon a sudden realization. He caught himself thinking about _him_ not as the Bloodsucker, the Damn Leech or as Kuran. A bitter pain registered into his features. He had been doing this, calling him by his given name, more and more lately. Even though it was only limited to his inner musings, thinking about his enemy, about the man who stripped him off of his humanity, with his given name was deeply disturbing for Zero.

Could he be any more foolish than he already was? Tonight, the Pureblood had reminded him what Zero was... What he could have been without his blood... Kaname had made him face that it was inevitable for him to fall to the level of the ones he scorned, looked down upon, damned and killed. Zero was in the end just an ex-human. Nothing more, nothing less... Yet he also knew and had been cruelly reminded that he could have been lesser than what he currently was without Kaname's blood.

The folds of the silk cloth hugged his limb gently, like a lover's hesitant but kind touch. But the Pureblood's actions had been anything but what this silken piece of cloth stood for. Zero could see it in his mind's eye how the Pureblood tied the ends of it around his bleeding hand; gently, remorsefully, his soulful eyes betraying a deeply rooted sorrow. Zero felt his chest tighten upon the memory of those eyes and the softly uttered words of penitence. This expensive, delicate piece of pearl white silk apparently had been some kind of a truce offering from Kaname's part. Zero frowned deeply. He didn't see it that way. He didn't believe anything he had seen in that luminous maroon gaze. This was all a game for the Pureblood in which the moves and the strategy had been all set by him and Zero could see that he was nothing but a small pawn twirled around with a flicker of Kaname's fingers. Those long, pale, cruel fingers...

As if he was punishing his mind for even entertaining the faint idea of believing the open sadness and remorse in the Pureblood's features, Zero slowly drank the contents of his glass. The coppery tang of the chemicals lingered on his tongue and he welcomed the terrible taste in each mouthful to erase the memory of how the heavenly taste of Kaname's blood had consumed his very being in the past.

He set his alarm clock and flicked off the dim light before laying under the warm sheets, facing his nightstand on which the blue digital numbers of his clock blinked monotonously and his gun Bloody Rose rested assuringly.

In the darkness, his restlessness grew and he began to untie the folds of the silk slowly. The smell was becoming too much to endure in this nocturnal hour of the day. Zero told himself that he didn't want to wake with another disturbing blood lust attack before he left for work. Still, his fingers didn't want to cooperate. He murmured a curse under his breath for being like this.

Zero felt it in his bones that what he tried to hold on instinctively was not the alluring scent of Kaname's blood, but the elusive feeling of the connection with the Pureblood that that simple piece of cloth provided. Deep inside, Zero could guiltily recognize the part of his heart that yearned to believe in that flicker of remorse, that melancholy, that faint hope to be forgiven he thought he had seen in Kaname's face and felt in his pale hands.

For the second time in ten minutes, Zero asked himself if he could be any more foolish than he already was. He knew the answer, though. He knew it since the time he had realized while driving back home that the first idea he had come up with upon the Pureblood's actions had not been whipping out his Bloody Rose and setting the cold barrel against the Kaname's forehead, but running away from him and from what he was.

Zero's fingers curled around the sheets tightly. He felt himself useless, changed, unable. How much of a toy Kaname was trying to turn him out to be until he got satisfied with what was left of him? First, inquiring his health as if he gave a damn about it, then helping him out with his work when he didn't have to the least bit, and then insisting on making him stay for lunch, trying to feed him in more than one way... However, finalizing his _generosity_ and _good mood_ with three gashes across his hand... The Pureblood certainly had a sick sense of humor.

But Zero couldn't help trembling slightly when he remembered the look in the Pureblood's eyes. Those maroon orbs, which rarely reflected an emotion other than resigned melancholy and sharp, calculative coldness, had gazed him with such an incarnadine hunger that it chilled Zero to his bones. He... He had seen in those eyes that his blood was desired, even yearned for. He knew of Kaname's iron control over himself. So, to see him react like that upon the scent of his blood certainly told Zero something. And Zero hated the implications that his mind came up with upon the idea.

Was he perceived merely as a walking late night snack? Had the situation been different would Kaname have bitten him right there and then? Was Kaname seeing him only as a handy blood donor that he could claim ownership upon and use whenever he deemed fit had he decided before that Zero was only an ex-human turned by him and thus, ultimately belonged to him?

He shuddered slightly. Why the emotions that were evoked by these ideas were not simply rage and hatred any longer? Why was he feeling this faint throb of despair and disappointment in the left side of his chest? This vampire had ruined his life and tied the remains on his fingers, making him an unwilling, never dying, slowly and silently despairing puppet... Because of this vampire's parents his brother Ichiru had been killed, his mother Mai had been blinded and turned into a vampire, locked into a basement before she had been liquidated when she had fallen into the clutches of Level E madness... Because of this vampire's parents that his father was dead now...

Yet, he, Zero was now clutching at this blood soaked fabric between his fingers as if it was a lifeline for him to hang on. His face burned with shame, his heart hammered in his chest with a baseless, shameful hope that he could not squash. That mortifyingly degraded hope demanded to be assured that what Kaname had shown him tonight on his face had been real. He wanted to believe it much to his iron denial, he longed for his suffering to be understood much to the cries of his wounded pride.

When had he become this pathetic and weak? What was Kaname doing to him with those haunting eyes of his, with those softly spoken words of sweet poison, and with this mock concern that he acted out oh so well...

He bit his lip to suppress a dry sob and accidentally inhaled the heavenly aroma of his tormentor's blood. However, despite everything, despite how much he hated himself at that moment, he didn't discard the handkerchief to a place where he could forget about it. Amids the turbulent of emotions, Zero understood deep inside that his family was never going to forgive him even in the afterlife, -if there was one.

-

When Kuran Yuuki came back to the mansion from her school that night, the familiar scent of a certain ill tempered, grumpy silver haired hunter's blood greeted her senses. The distinct smell of his brother's pureblood was accompanying the cloying scent of the ex-human's blood, hanging in the air, alerting her rain-dulled senses.

She tentatively went down to the small dining room where the scent was the strongest and where she felt Kaname's presence. She bit her lip as she raised her hand to knock on the door, hesitating between not bothering him and the urge to learn the reason behind the alluring combination of these smells. Overcoming her trepidation, she knocked gently and the ornate door opened a fraction to let her in in silent invitation.

Yuuki, with creased eyebrows, entered, knowing that it was her brother who opened the door with his mind. But he didn't utter a word as his back was facing the entrance and he seemed to be in deep thought. Yuuki took a few steps into the room, her doe eyes full of worry. She immediately recognized the drops of blood creating a small pool on the pristine floor near where she stood. In fact, red dots decorated everywhere in a faint pattern from the lonely dinner table down to the door. The smell was like that of burnt incense, silently clinging to the air, keeping company to the tall and tranquil Pureblood as rain drops hit the window panes.

Under the dim light of the chandeliers, the room seemed like a holy place where blood was shed and sacrifices made. The notion was ridiculous, Yuuki knew. But when she gazed at the stoic form of her older brother and listened to his silence, she couldn't help the soft shiver that ran down her frame. It was as if she stumbled upon the aftermath of a holy ritual, as if she was invading her brother's privacy, but she couldn't bring herself to leave, either.

Thus, she stood silently, gaze stuck on her brother's lean, dark frame, her senses full of his and Zero's blood, she didn't dare to utter a word.

So, Zero had been here tonight... For what purpose had the hunter abandoned his deep hatred towards her brother to visit him in the mansion? It had to be really crucial for the silver haired male, maybe enough to squash his deeply rooted disdain to come and seek Kaname out. Yet, in the end, the result seemed to be very different from what Zero might have had envisioned it to be.

Yuuki's small hands fisted by her side. She could tell what her brother hid in his heart for the stubborn and moody hunter. Kaname had never been easy to read even for her, but Yuuki could tell... In the rare occasions he and Zero had met before, Yuuki could see how much her brother struggled with himself, how much he had tried to act the way he was expected to do and how much every move Zero made and every word he uttered affected Kaname.

She knew Kaname loathed himself for it, scorned himself cruelly for having this weakness for the hunter when everyone around them, their society deemed them as the enemies of each other, saw them only as a master and his ex-human slave. Yuuki didn't believe what she had heard, what she had been taught. She didn't believe that Kiryuu Narumi was the real murderer of her parents. She didn't believe that the murderer of Zero's twin, and the one who turned his mother was one of her parents. She simply shunned away the hatred that the Council Elders tried to put into her mind. Zero was faultless and so was Kaname. Yet they were drifted apart and then thrown together by a tangle of assumptions, ploys and lies: Their fabricated past in which Zero believed and from which Kaname tried to get away.

She could understand Zero. He was holding onto that past as a life line, as a purpose to continue living, as a safe place to lay all his hate, all his despair and all the torment he had gone through. Who could blame him when he was stripped of everything he knew about himself and his fate was sealed off, forever bound to a society he didn't belong and damned to hell and back. Taking this away from Zero, forcing him to live like this without his hate would surely kill the young man.

And Yuuki felt the silent torture in which Kaname bottled himself up, too. He was shouldering all the responsibilities as the family head and shielding her from the old scavengers of the Council. She could see how hard he tried to use everything he had to unveil the mystery of their parents' deaths whilst he tried to beat down the timid voice in his head that whispered him of things about who resided in his heart.

They both thought that no one knew and nobody cared. But Yuuki knew and Yuuki alone cared for their pain and struggle within this society that saw them as treats to be removed as soon as possible.

Kaname was still gazing blindly through the windows, apparently forgetting that Yuuki was still there, that she was ready for him to at least offer her shoulder this once. But Yuuki gave up on waiting and shrugged off her damp coat, silently walking towards him. She hugged her brother from behind, trying to assure him that he was not alone there to suffer, that she could share it with him even when he didn't talk about it.

Kaname shuddered as if woken from a deep reverie. Yuuki's gentle smell surrounded him and he exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding. His head slightly inclined towards her as if he was apologizing.

"I hurt him accidentally, Yuuki..." Kaname murmured and Yuuki did her best to hide her sadness when she heard how the words were uttered as if his brother was the one wounded.

"I tried to make him drink some of my blood, he was in pain... But he refused. I... I just..." _I just lost myself when he refused me... When he tried to run away from me... _But he couldn't finish his sentence this way. He didn't want to admit it to Yuuki; in fact, not even to himself.

"Is he alright, Oni-sama?" Yuuki couldn't help but ask and feel relieved when Kaname simply nodded his head affirmative. However, Kaname was still radiating remorse.

"I didn't mean it to be like that..." He whispered just for Yuuki's ears as if ridiculously afraid of being heard by some other people. It was humiliating and wounding his self-esteem to hear himself utter these words even to his beloved sister. But he just wanted to say it out loud once more, maybe to make himself believe that what he had done was uncontrollably instinctual, purely triggered by Zero... Because of Zero...

He was turning someone else just because of him, fearing himself just because of what a mere word or an action of the hunter could drag out a side of himself he didn't want to deal with and understand. It was tiring, it was exhausting his thoughts and sometimes even giving him headaches. He felt like all the effort that he had been putting into reaching a common grounds with the hunter was redundant, a waste of his energy and precious time. Zero was unbreakable under his subdued countenance, wild under his apathetic and calm facade, consumed with hate behind his silvery coldness and icy distance. Hidden safely behind his walls, Zero was unconquerable. And all of Kaname's best intentions were mistaken as cruel tactics and unrighteous assaults to what Zero had gathered of himself after his life had crumbled down. And Kaname knew that he was the one who had put the final bricks upon Zero's fortress.

He didn't know where this urge to breach the walls around Zero came from.

Kaname felt his sister tighten her embrace around him in a silent way to assure him and he appreciated the gesture with all his heart.

"Thanks, Yuuki..." He murmured and felt her let go of him. Yet he didn't want to face her worried expression with the blood on his hands and with the maelstrom of emotions that he knew his features betrayed. Apparently, Yuuki understood him and she softly bid him good night and told him that she would wait for him at dinner time.

She left her brother's study with a heavy heart, knowing that the only person who could console her brother's agitated conscious was not herself, but a level headed hunter who would die first before he ever did so.

Kaname looked at his hands, unclenching them before his face. Why was he still standing here and resisting the need to wash his hands and get the room cleaned off of his and Zero's blood? His body's eager reaction to Zero's blood was both embarrassing and frightening even for himself. The heavenly scent was still lingering in his senses and a small part inside of him didn't want to be deprived of it so soon. Still, he recognized this longing not actually as the need to taste the hunter's blood once more on his tongue -no matter how much he yearned for it- but as the need to preserve the strange sense of connectivity it created between him and the defiant and proud hunter.

God, how much more ridiculous this could get before he snapped and made a fool of himself in front of the object of his desires and, he didn't know yet but, his affections...

Apparently, he was right when he assumed that this night was going to be a long one as his mind traveled back to the time when he had tasted the hunter's blood for the second time, yet again against Zero's will. The memory sent a thrill to his already aroused predator instincts. The struggle, the way Zero had tried to make him remember who he was to prevent him from falling into what Kaname had been training himself to repress so that he could better confirm to the ideals that his parents had died for... His smell, his closeness, the rhythm of his heart against his, the way his body felt against his trembling, sick, thirsty one...

Everything came back in a flood of images and Kaname groaned silently at the sensation it caused. Zero had saved his life that night, nearly at the cost of his own and left Kaname aching for more ever since then in a shameful desire he realized he could never sate until he claimed Zero like that again, this time without denying his heart and soul what he denied himself that night.

And even the idea of it made him loathe himself like he had never hated anything before.

**-0-0-**

Living in the Ichiou mansion had its costs. Kaname could rarely go out without being accompanied by a couple of Ichiou's body guards. Their constant presence disturbed Kaname greatly, making him feel like a dog on a leash, always watched and checked upon.

On very rare occasions, he would get some semblance of privacy when Takuma, Ichiou's grandson, would kindly assure his grandfather that he would accompany Kaname and they wouldn't need anyone to _look after_ them. Asato Ichiou would insistently claim that the body guards were there to protect him from any ill intention directed towards him, but Kaname knew better. They were there to spy on him to report back to Ichiou about where he went, with whom he met and what he said to them.

Sure, Kaname found every minute of those precious occasions as a breather from Ichiou's vulture like observation but he was always loathe to leave Yuuki alone in the mansion for Asato to do with her as he pleased during his absence. He would always make sure that Yuuki was also away from the mansion, too, either visiting Aido's family or Seiren's.

Yet, those much earned and sought after breathers were not used for simply getting away from that hell hole but for planning and paving the way for the future.

Kaname would visit Zero.

Masking his presence was nothing for Kaname if he wanted it, so the hunter, now ex-human, would never know it. But Kaname would stop by Cross' and watch the boy from afar, learn about how much he progressed in his hunter studies, in his school and how well he was dealing with the change that his body and fate was going through.

Zero was developing in the growth rate of a normal human child, but Kaname knew that when his vampire self would awake, his body would slowly fall under the effect of his changed blood. Zero was managing well, he was the first ex-human that Kaname ever saw or heard of that could resist his vampire side this much longer. There was now a bluish tattoo of an ancient charm on the boy's long pale neck, where Kaname had bitten him. He later learned that the charm was tuned to him as he was the master of the boy but he would yet give him his blood to stabilize him.

Kaname wanted to... But in his current state, he didn't know when he could manage that. He just didn't want to lose a precious pawn on his chest board without even arranging all the chessmen to his liking. Zero was going to prove himself very reliable and useful whether he knew it or not and Kaname could see that the boy needed to be stabilized as soon as possible.

Still, as time went by, Kaname's initial intentions steadily changed, or more accurately, evolved into something else.

He could see the pain the silver haired youth was living in. He realized that he had never once seen Zero smile or look pleased about something. Not that the stoic boy was aggressive or unnecessarily self-destructive openly, but that apathetic look in his wondrous lilac eyes, his occasionally slumped shoulders, his fragile frame and sickly pale skin were haunting Kaname after his each and every visit.

The boy was dead inside, like a cold and barren arctic desert. And Kaname was one of the reasons of it.

Sometimes he would just stand under the trees that surrounded the backyard of Cross' house and watch Zero for long minutes as he sparred with his Sensei Yagari or as he sit under the starlit sky, alone. Even though Kaname knew Takuma was there, even though he could guess what might Takuma think about this secret hobby of his, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to stay just a tad bit longer. Maybe in his heart of hearts, Kaname wanted to be found out by the silver haired boy, wanted those sullen eyes to land on his and get filled with rage, hatred, and murderous intent. Filled with anything but that empty, solemn look of lifeless apathy...

And he got what he wanted on a winter night when he was called secretly by Cross. He found Zero ill, his body no longer able to fight with the awakening thirst in him, locked into a basement upon his own request, waiting for his end to come.

Kaname could never forget that night when he found Zero in the bare room, hugging his bloodied right arm to himself fiercely, his tattoo glowing a violent shade of crimson, body drenched in cold sweat, half conscious and in agony.

And Cross told him that Zero had drunk _'that_ _thing' _in hopes of suppressing his blood lust but the effect was not what they thought it would be and now the boy was clawing at his right shoulder and arm constantly, the resulting blood loss further agitating his wailing senses.

Quickly gathering the boy in his arms, Kaname realized that what drew him near the boy in a worry he had never felt before was not caused by the need to preserve the sanity of his would be pawn, but the need for sparing the violently shaking boy from the torment he went through.

Thus, Kaname gave him his blood and let him fall into a deep slumber devoid of nightmares for the first time since their first encounter.

Little did he know that he would soon be the one who would need to be saved from the clutches of the madness of the most horrible blood lust ever known to a vampire.

-

When Kaname officially became 18 according to the human standards, the first thing he did was to become Yuuki's legal guardian and getting rid of Asato's wardship in the most polite and effective way he could muster without rousing unwanted suspicion and scorn. It was not an easy feat. Ichiou seemed greatly offended and did everything to remind Kaname that he could trust him with everything and even with some of the assets passed on him and Yuuki by their parents. Kaname made a sacrifice of leaving one quarter of his own assets to Asato's management, mainly the bona immobilia, such as many a hectares of cotton, tobacco and coffee plantations in some other counties and a company that owned a few factories here.

All these would be run by Asato in Kaname's name and at that time Kaname was not very much concerned about what his parents would feel about it had they known. This was a price he was willing to pay for his and Yuuki's freedom and safety. And Asato was currently satisfied with the result like the gluttonous leech he was.

But not long before he could see the fourth month of his freedom, Kaname was attacked during an outdoor party he attended for business related reasons.

He was talking with a foreigner Pureblood, who was an acquaintance of his parents, about how they could revive their currently broken business partnership. As in every occasion he personally attended, all interest and admiration were zoned in on him and he was getting tired of it. Admittedly, the companionship of his inner circle, which was by then acknowledged by everyone in the vampire society, was somehow an assuring presence. Every now and then Takuma, Aido and his cousin Kain were helping him out in getting rid of the disturbing curiosity and the pointless social interaction.

Whatever happened, it happened there and then when he wasn't completely aware of who was standing beside him for what purpose. He felt the pin-prick of a needle against the skin of his jugular and suddenly everything felt cold and hot at the same time. A frightening paralysis took over his body and he felt himself fall to the ground amids the screams and the horrified expressions of his Noble friends. He had never felt that much fear in his entire life.

As he fell against Aido's quick embrace and watched people trying to get away and at the same time trying to move close to help, his panic stricken mind for the first time grasped the idea of what helplessness was and what could happen to him when he was in this state.

Aido quickly located the reason of his fall and took the needle out, Takuma trying to pin point the assailant to prevent him from getting away and Kain trying to clear away the people who were both frightened and eager to help. Kaname was thankful for their presence, because were it not for them, he didn't want to imagine what could have happened to him whilst he was this glaringly vulnerable and the faint smell of his blood was on the air thanks to the needle.

What happened afterwards was a blur of images in Kaname's head. He was quickly taken to a hospital where he was kept under surveillance until the contents of the poison that the needle was covered with was understood.

The paralysis receded slowly, leaving its place to a sense of hypersensitivity that Kaname could recognize as the first tendrils of a blood lust. A devastating, seemingly insatiable blood lust like he had never felt before. His nails were elongating and changing their color despite himself and his fangs were causing an unbearable pain to throb in his jaw as they were slowly but surely getting aroused despite his struggle to suppress their growth.

The aura he was emitting scared even the Noble doctors and he felt his reaction time to things like light, noise or to the presences of the others shorten dramatically. Kaname knew that his eyes were tinted with crimson by now.

The doctors were whispering about confining him until they figured out the components of the poison and an antidote for it. How could Kaname blame them when he was feeling the mind wrecking need to kill everyone present in the hospital in the most horrifyingly brutal way every imaginable and drink their blood until he could take no more...

Whatever was inside the poison, it was trying to unleash the primeval, mindless predator that he hid and locked inside him.

Kaname was turning into a monster. And he had to get away. Quickly...

His dilemma was solved when a couple of members of the Council entered his room and declared him and his inner circle that Kaname was going to be in the custody of the Council until the time the doctors found a solution to what was affecting him. They told them that this was both for the safety of him and for everyone around him. They claimed to have arrested the culprit who was suspected of being a hunter and told him that they probably knew what was injected to Kaname.

Kaname didn't know what to do. He simply wanted to rip the heads of the ones who came to collect him, because he suspected that it was one of their ploys that would lead him to a trap in which he would be killed with a good reason: Attacking innocent people due to the effects of an unknown drug...

His mind couldn't think clearly as he watched the deadly serious faces of the Council members. But Takuma made the decision for him.

"We will never leave your side, Kaname..." He whispered into his ear, making Kaname disgustingly aware of how warm he felt, how delicious his neck looked to be crushed. Finally, the fear of himself overweighted that of what could happen to him in his state in the hands of the Council, he conceded.

Bless Aido for his quick and cunning mind for only letting them to do as they pleased if they officially declared that no harm was to be done to Kaname until he was cured, no one to attend him unless his inner circle approved of the person in question; and to let his inner circle to be present near Kaname all the times even when it became mortally dangerous for them to do so.

As if expecting this, the members quickly procured the warrants signed by none other than Asato Ichiou, guarantying them the complete safety of Kaname, conceding to all of the legal results if the warrant was broken in any offensive way, on purpose or not.

How much more could things fall down hill, Kaname hadn't known then.

He was taken to the confinement basements of the Council building as if he was a prisoner. At least, his friends would be outside for him and no one could enter inside to harm him, Kaname's mind provided. In fact, if the feeling that was carousing through his body was any indication, Kaname thought that anyone that dared to lay a finger on him would meet an instant and painful death without his mind even registering it.

He was locked from the outside into a white cell, bare and dimly illuminated, the walls and the two doors present were most probably made out of heavy layers of steel and guarded with hunter spells. He sat in a corner and waited hopefully for the building murderous intent in him to subside. But it didn't.

He could feel the presences of Takuma, Aido and Kain through the walls and hear them talk thanks to the window like partition on one of the doors. Not much later, they were joined by Seiren and their parents. He ordered Seiren to take care of Yuuki and not let her come to this place under any circumstance. He didn't know what would happen to him, but at least he wanted to be assured that Yuuki would be safe no matter what.

-

Long minutes passed. Kaname started sweating profusely even though the bare room was cool and damp air was coming through one of the doors. He refused to look at his hands which were by now transformed up to his wrists, his pale skin thickened and its color turned into a horrifying shade of brown, his fingers now deadly sharp talons. He was trembling uncontrollably and his neck hurt like molten lava was spread over it. His limbs were twitching every now and then as if they tried to grab onto an unseen prey. The movement was so quick that he never knew he could make them seem invisible even for his own eyes. He felt immensely tired but at the same time insanely hyper, ready to destroy even the confines of his iron cage if needed.

He feared himself... The blood lust was becoming so overwhelming that he was in agony. His chest hurt as if his ribcage was expanding and then getting squashed under an unknown pressure. His stomach seemed to devour itself alive even though he logically knew that Purebloods could go on without food, water or blood for weeks. He could feel the sharp ends of his upper fangs grow so long that it was quickly becoming impossible for him to close his lips. Even the canine teeth on his lower jaw were getting aroused, closing his mouth properly was becoming a distant relief.

Was this how Level Es were feeling when they slowly fell from being a Level D? If so, he felt somehow guilty at the back of his mind. His coherent thoughts were leaving him as the sense of time, location and self rapidly deserted him.

How many times did he ask if Yuuki was safe? How many times did he ask if a cure was found for whatever the hell was consuming him now? He didn't remember, but he was aware that his patience was getting thinner and thinner.

Then suddenly, he felt a presence he despised. Asato Ichiou. The elder was standing before the partition on the door and talking directly to him.

"The poison is that of a hunter mix, Kaname-sama..." He was saying. "We analyzed it and found that it was an ancient mix used for tormenting vampires, making them fall into a blood lust even greater than that of a Level E's and forcing them hunt for blood endlessly."

"Where is the cure?" He asked and immediately got shocked upon the tone and quality of his own voice. It was no longer his... It even made his own hair rise as he tried to grip on his conscious mind.

"There... There is no known cure for it as of yet, Kaname-sama..." Ichiou's voice reverberated in the empty room. Kaname felt like throwing up upon the news. "Only a special kind of blood could neutralize it and it was recorded that it changed from one person to another, thus, there is no known remedy for it..."

Kaname couldn't help his will to ball itself into the purest form of rage and slam itself towards the door where he knew Asato was standing behind. The room shook with the force of the blow and the door produced a sickening screech of metal against metal but it remained intact.

"Find me a cure!" He ordered, "Or I will kill each and every one of you old leeches even if it costs my last breath!"

And his eyes widened upon his own words. Was he losing himself this much to utter his most secret desire? Not that he was fearing of the consequences of killing them, but the unbidden thrill the idea of killing them gave was disturbingly natural and even greatly satisfactory. What was happening to him?

"Ichiou, I trust you to find me a cure as soon as possible." He tried to amend just to keep his mask intact and protect Yuuki. "The pain makes me say unthinkable things." He wanted to bite his tongue off.

"Certainly, Kaname-sama." Was Asato's voice fearful? Kaname couldn't help but relish in it despite his pain. And he fell silent again.

-

Hours passed by and he realized that Aido's tired voice was calling for his attention. His eyes zoned in on the package that was being pushed from the partition into his room. Aido was explaining.

"Kaname-sama... Please drink these while we search for a cure. Maybe one of them is what the poison requires to be neutralized."

Kaname slowly got up and crouched down before the door to see what Aido was babbling about. His eyes caught the condition of his hands which were now morphed up to his elbows, the deadly talons that passed as his fingers were now ebony dark. The sight no longer disgusted him or clicked in his mind the fact that they weren't supposed to be like that.

He hastily opened the bag and saw stacks and stacks of medical blood packs. Each and everyone of them had the unique smells of his friends, their parents and... and his sister Yuuki...

Kaname quickly got the pack that was filled with Yuuki's familiar blood and nearly got himself choked on it as he opened the hard nylon with his painfully elongated teeth and drank it in only a few gulps, not registering the fact that Yuuki now had to be aware that he was in pain and worried enough to send him her blood.

He waited. He waited with closed eyes, praying for it to take effect, for his gentle sister's blood to save him from the brink of insanity. But his hopes were not answered even after he went through the last blood pack of his willing donors.

He felt crushed, but no longer knew for what reason he felt that way.

-

The hard floor of his room was by now covered with scratches made by his itching talons. He didn't know it but the sounds he made whilst he tried to suppress the need to drive them into someone's flesh by scratching the floor and the walls made his followers cringe outside. They could feel his growing aura, his terrifying killing intent and blood lust even through the steel walls and it was a challenge for them to stay put. But, they stayed and kept an eye on everything showing what true loyalty meant.

Kaname could tell that something was coming. The anticipation in him was amounting by every second. Yet, he didn't know what it was. His attention was drawn to the second door constantly and he was dying to open it, completely forgetting that his friends were still trying to talk to him from the partition of the other door to keep his sanity intact. He was no longer answering them. In fact he was no longer hearing them. Something was coming and he knew it was going to be somewhere behind the second door.

Half an hour later, a distinct scent hit him like the smell of water would hit the senses of a man lost in a desert. In an instant, he was standing before the second door, breathing heavily, his talons screeching on the steel door in slow, tormented circles. Somebody was there... Beckoning him, pulling him to themselves like a vortex of gravity.

"Kaname, they captured Zero!" Takuma was saying. "Kaname! They are putting him in one of the chambers near here... They... They will make you kill him, Kaname! Kaname!"

But, Takuma's frantic calling was falling on deaf ears.

-

Zero couldn't see, he couldn't move properly. The men from the Council had taken him from his school, telling him that there was a matter concerning his master, Kuran Kaname, which required his presence. Even though Zero would never trust the old bloodsuckers even with a dead kitten, he had followed them to their car since he didn't want his adoptive father to be involved with the Council because of him.

And the moment he got into the car, he was injected with something that quickly rendered him immobile yet kept him awake. The initial feeling of fear quickly left him as numbness and chemical sleepiness embraced him. So, they were finally taking him somewhere to get disposed off him eternally... Was Kuran, that damned vampire, aware of this? Most probably...

But as they drove and told him the reason why he was taken away in this way, some things start to confuse him. They told him that a hunter had attacked their precious Kuran-sama and as a punishment they were going to sacrifice a hunter and The Hunter Association had consented on giving him to them as a peace offering. What better candidate there would have been other than the last Kiryuu to be left in the hands of his own enemy?

Zero felt rage burn him inside out, but he couldn't do anything as he was taken to the Council, stripped off of his clothing and made wear a simple collarless white shirt and white pants as if he was a sacrificial lamb. His clothing, his bag and his shoes were put into a dark bag like he would never need them again. And then he was carried by two men on his either side down to the basement floor where lights were dim and a dead smell of earth and rottenness hung heavily in the air. Zero realized that this time he was really going to die without even a soul knowing about where and when he gave his last breath.

As they descended, the effect of the drug wearied and he slowly found the power to struggle against their hold, shouting bloody murder when his tongue no longer felt like a dead fish in his mouth. Even though his captors were also vampires and even though he was just a 14 year old boy, he managed to get away from the grasp of one of them and even succeeded in punching the other powerfully enough to crack is jaw. But he couldn't escape.

One of the guardians hauled him at the door that they reached and his head crashed full force to the steel surface, splitting his lip badly. When he fell limp, they opened the door and then went downwards through old, earthen steps. A nauseating smell of rot and rust attacked to his senses. He was dragged down lower and lower into what seemed like an old, forgotten catacomb made by caving the earth inwards. It was cold, dark and giving off the feeling of a frighteningly endless maze.

He was tossed to the soil ground, moist and soft under him, and then his wrists were shackled to old chains. Even through it all, even though he now knew it was futile, he resisted and struggled. One of his captors hit him again, hard. And he saw stars as more blood poured down from his tender lip.

Securely tied to his awaiting death, he felt another needle go through his flesh and this time the sensation it caused was foreign. When a few wooden torches were lit here and there, he cringed at the dim light and realized that what was injected to him was something that both limited his mobility and heightened his senses, causing a tormenting clash between the opposite sensations. He felt the consuming need to escape only to fall to the realization of being powerless and unable to move.

These people were sick to the core. They didn't even bat an eyelash as they left him there, bruised, cold and alone, tied down like an offering to an unknown predator.

And the door was closed in on him somewhere above, leaving him trembling softly with fear despite himself. His vision was blurry was if there were unshed tears in his eyes, but he knew that it was the drug taking effect. He sat there amidst the ancient smell of death, the orange lights from the torches casting eerie glows around the seemingly maze like catacomb.

In silent helplessness, Zero waited for his executioner.

-

Kaname was nearly at the edge of his sanity -if he wasn't already- when the steel door miraculously gave way under his will as if it was not as durable as the other door was in the first place. But Kaname didn't pay attention to it, all he could think about was the smell that drifted into his room through the deformed door, carried by a soundless, sourceless wind. He quickly passed through, his bare feet encountering soft earthen steps, his heightened senses picking up the faint breathing sounds of the person this heavenly scent belonged to.

His expensive dress jacket and shoes lay in the room forgotten as Takuma futilely continued to call his name.

Whatever was approaching him after that loud crush of a heavy thing somewhere he couldn't see, Zero's drug hazed mind registered that it was something that he had never encountered before. The aura of the person approaching him was bone shuddering and the killing intent was recognizable to his hunter senses even when he was this much drugged. The smell of blood slowly burned his nostrils, making his stomach churn in disgust and he thought he could die even because of the intensity of the aura of the person coupled with the dead air around him.

Zero started to tremble, this time for real. But he didn't panic. He tried to remember the words of a charm as his shaking fingers formed an uneven circle on the dirt. Quickly trying to locate where the person was coming from, he drew the circle which could to an extend keep him safe from anyone trying to cross it.

Unbeknown to him, Kaname was watching his every move from the shadows, his eyes fixed upon his pale form, filled with wonder as if he had actually found a wingless angel in this scattered graveyard of a distant past. But Kaname's mind was far from recognizing who the person actually was. All he could feel was the torment that he was going through and the wailing of his instincts that told him that the person before him was the only remedy to put an end to the torture that his mind and body was plunged into.

He took a few silent steps towards his prey who sat under the light of the torches, subdued by chains, watching the darkness with wide open translucent eyes just like a wary and cornered animal would do. It excited him. The way the silver haired person was trembling softly, how his breath hitched every now then, the oh so red of his freshly shed blood adorning his lip and chin mesmerized him. This person was his, and the still sober part of his consciousness yearned for him in more ways than one.

Zero's head whipped towards the source of nearly soundless footsteps and his eyes dilated further when he saw who the person coming for him was. He held his breath as the sanguinary angel of his nightmares slowly, gracefully emerged from the darkness with such alluring lethality that Zero relearned what true fear felt like in his gut.

Kuran Kaname, dark as the shadows that he had been hiding in, was wearing a battered black dress shirt, the sleeve cuffs of which was ripped apart to reveal his ebony black talons. His bare feet was slowly but surely carrying him towards where he was trapped, face paler than anyone's Zero ever met, eyes, which were burning like onyx stones, hidden under sweat drenched chocolate bangs. But what nearly stopped Zero's hammering heart were the rows and rows of ivory fangs that those pale lips revealed when they were pulled back for a guttural hiss.

Zero saw Kaname disappear and with his hand that was already on the ground he shouted, flinching and closing his eyes despite himself and what his Sensei had taught him.

"_Arceo!"_

He gasped, realizing that Kaname had landed just outside his small circle, unable to pass it to reach to him. He felt the older vampire's ragged breath on his face, the scent of it nauseatingly sweetened with blood Zero could tell that he had consumed earlier. What had happened to Kuran for him to fall in this state, locked here together with him? His drug laced mind didn't have the luxury to spare a second to think about the reason.

He opened his eyes hesitatingly, facing the hungry blacked gaze of the Pureblood, his breath hitching painfully in his throat. Whatever that had happened to the vampire before him, Zero was now sure that it had severed the connection between his logic and instinct.

Zero stood still and tried to focus on the distorted features of the Pureblood as good as his bleary eyes allowed. Kuran was eying him as if he was the most desirable thing on the whole world. His gaze was piercing and soul consuming as he leaned forward, trying to get closer to him, trying to get past the circle that Zero was still supporting with his hand.

"Allow me in..." Kaname murmured, extending a blackened hand towards his face. Zero shuddered at the quality of Kaname's voice, causing the vampire's eyes travel over his shaking frame with dark desire.

"Lift up your spell..." Kaname whispered again, desperate to touch this trembling person, madly in need of feeling his flesh give way under his talons. "Can't you see the pain you inflict on me?"

Zero felt his eyes gather moisture as Kaname's hand crossed the invisible barrier and started to shake, small drops of blood appearing on the velvety black skin. The fear he was feeling now was so strong that he didn't know if he could manage a word had he been able to scream his head off...

The warm, fleshy insides of the talons met his chin. Zero sobbed quietly even though he told himself not to be afraid, not to excite the Pureblood further with the smell it caused, but it was too late. Kaname was looking at him with such a deep melancholy that Zero wanted to just cross the barrier and let the Pureblood have him in whatever way he deemed fit to end his life.

"Come to me or let me in." Kaname whispered seductively as he gently cupped the side of the silver haired beauty's face he was persuading to be eaten. _Please stop me..._

"Don't you want to cease my pain?" He was trembling too, but losing blood and watching this fragile person whimper like this before him was somehow clearing the fog in his mind even as he listened to the words he was saying as if he was in someone else's body.

Zero realized that through the touch, the Pureblood was manipulating his already clogged mind and unstable emotions. His free hand closed on the bloody talons weakly and even as he shed two drops of involuntary tears of sorrow, he whispered,

"_Effactum!"_ And a sickening sound of bones breaking filled the catacomb.

Kaname's mind reeled with pain and the sane part of him, the part which was truly himself, vainly held on to the moment to repress his horribly animalistic side. But the beast was stronger. The beast was enthralled by Zero's pure whiteness, the feel of his skin, the smell of his blood and the shine of his tears and the beast was much more cunning than him. He realized that Zero was drawing the power of the dead from the ancient soil for his charms to work better and thus, he couldn't take his hand off the ground.

He leaped, already forgetting about the pain and yanked the chains that were attached to Zero's wrists to haul the boy up against the stone wall that one of the torches rested on. Zero didn't even have the time to react and with a pitiful wail, he hit the wall and fell against it as if he was a broken doll...

_No... No... Zero... Zero! No! _

Kaname's stomach spasmed with worry, what he had done helping him grasp on his logic and sane mind maybe at the cost of Zero's life. In an instant, he was before the shorter boy, gathering him in his arms and carefully shaking him. Zero was alive, but he seemed paralyzed momentarily by the force of the impact.

"Let me go..." His weak voice sounded. "Let me go, Kuran!" Kaname wasn't hearing him, he was too preoccupied with smoothing the silver strands of the ex-human back from his bloody forehead, too drowned in the deadly pull of his blood and the sinful softness and warmth of his body against his.

"Zero... Zero..." He was murmuring continuously... "Zero, I am going insane..." He sobbed brokenly.

Zero felt his hot breath on his neck and froze, vainly trying to clear his mind and get his limbs work. Kaname was nuzzling his neck, inhaling his scent deeply, his body slowly being laid upon the ground much to his horror. Fear stricken, he began to trash, to scream even when he knew that it was in vain.

"Stop, Kuran, stop!"

Kaname was kissing the side of Zero's neck. His hand, already healed, was tearing apart the white shirt from the left side where his ownership tattoo decorated the boy's delicate neck. Zero felt the seal react to its owner, making the area hot and hyper sensitive as if the tattoo had just been made. The sensation caused by the fangs and the lips of the Pureblood shocked him and frightened him even more than the idea of getting brutally bitten and dying. His battered body arched up against the Pureblood's in unwanted yet soul wrenching pleasure when Kaname licked and sucked on the skin there.

"No! Stop! Please, stop!"

But Kaname had no intention to. He thought, if he could satisfy the beast in him in at least this way, he could prevent it from tearing into the younger vampire's throat. He hoped that by igniting the ownership crest on Zero's neck aflame, which he knew was tuned to his blood, this dark side of him would remember that whom he was dying to tear apart was in fact a part of his blood, his responsibility and his fate.

"Stop struggling, Zero." He gasped against the now moist skin. "Stop provoking me. Can't you see how it excites me when your body writhes under mine..."

And Zero froze.

"Your struggle, your fear only fuel this dark part of me further. It... It wants to consume you..." Kaname rasped, the talons of his left hand burying themselves into the dirt but still holding one of the chains. His shoulders were shaking violently as if he was fighting against his own body. "I am... I was poisoned and now I lust for blood."

Zero felt two tear drops fall onto his naked shoulder. Kaname was crying. His body was spasming convulsively above him whilst he tried to hold himself back.

"But the beast inside me wants you... It only desires you, Zero... So much so that I want to kill you... But I don't... I can't... Help me Zero... I am not strong enough to win against this blood lust now."

Upon the horrifyingly truthful confession of the Pureblood, Zero felt an ice cold shiver run down his spine. How many nights had he dreamed of killing this blood sucker, how many times had he told himself that this man was his sole enemy in life and he was enduring this life just to take his revenge on him?

Countless nights... Countless times...

Yet as Kaname raised his tear drenched face, fangs somehow receding to normal levels and that hatefully beautiful garnet color trying to overthrow the onyx color of his eyes, looking at him with an open desperation to be understood, to be helped, to be willingly bestowed what he desired... Zero couldn't find it in him to deny him.

He raised his hand to his tattoo and cut himself with his nail just a fraction enough to gather some blood on his finger tip and with his translucent eyes still locked with Kaname's, he raised his hand to the side of Kaname's neck where he had bitten him only once and cut him there too to mix their blood on the wound.

"_Desistere, ob nostra signum sanguineus."_ He muttered and Kaname exhaled a shuddering breath of relief as he leaned upon his savior. Feeling most of the darkness subside in him, he leaned forward again to lap at the small, already healed wound Zero had created on his neck and sucked on it eagerly, feeling Zero tremble against him even as he tried to remain put to not provoke Kaname's instincts. Kaname found the trepidation and fearful anticipation suddenly arousing and precious, his mind not truly grasping the fact that he was now lusting for Zero's blood for utterly different reasons.

"I won't hurt you..." He promised, not realizing that he most probably was not up to keep true to it.

"Just get done with it." Zero sharply hissed, stubbornly refusing to admit himself how his body was stiffened in fear just like a stone. But it was either this or a very violent death. His logic persuaded him to choose the lesser of evils even when his senses screamed for him to do something. But he was not one to step back from his decisions.

Kaname lost himself in the wonderful sensation the bluish charm gave under his lips and tongue. And this time, without any hesitation he bit down on the delicate neck as gently as he could. He felt Zero gasp and arch his back against him, but he knew that it wasn't from pain this time. As the delicious life essence of his prey flooded down his throat, Kaname felt liberated. He felt free and safe again, returning back to what he knew as himself. Zero's blood was pure bliss, washing away the torment he went through, coating his inner wounds warmly and gently. It tasted of sunshine, earth after the rain and dew from the flowers. It was divine just like how Zero's slender form felt under his wandering hands, no longer distorted as talons. He could drink it forever, even for the drugs that tried to taint its pureness.

"Kaname... Kaname..."

But the weakened voice of Zero calling his name made him stop and draw away immediately, as what the silver haired boy called him registered in his mind.

"Bastard, took too much!" Zero struggled weakly, trying to hide away his discomfort by swearing. He had called the Pureblood by his family name many times, but when got no response, he had had to use his given name even though he knew he would hate himself for it later on. Admittedly, using Kaname's name made the trick and he got away without his blood being completely leeched away.

" 's cold..." He slurred, trembling, his bruises and wounds finally taking their toll on him, coupled with the rapid blood loss. He felt Kaname embrace him tighter as he made him sit up, his body screaming in protest.

"Let go..." Zero tried to get away without success. Although he was now thirsty, he was quickly falling asleep against the warm chest of the Pureblood who was still caressing his back and sides and nuzzling his hair intimately. It was the most unsettling thing he had ever felt but he couldn't do anything. Zero decided to kill the Pureblood for the hell he had made him go through at a later time.

Kaname couldn't get enough of how Zero felt in his arms. His eyes reverted back to their maroon color, hands back to their pale elegance, the darkness in him satiated by none other than his enemy whose life he had used and was still using for his own ends. But he didn't know where this sudden desire to at least offer the sleeping boy the comfort of a warm embrace and the assuring affections of two hands that could easily had taken the life of the boy a few minutes ago... He was in Zero's debt, greatly...

And with that thought in mind, prejudices and the enmity forgotten, he swore to take revenge on these leeches whom he was somehow sure that tried to kill him and Zero at the same time with just one stone.

He stood up and climbed the nearby earthen stairs with Zero's sleeping figure in his arms, silently praying for that day to come closer when he could take his and Zero's revenge on everyone in the most brutal way that their perpetrators ever imagined.

The steel door gave under his replenished will easily and he climbed his way amongst the guardians of the Council to find his relieved companions, eager for them to take him home where he would let Zero drink his blood as much as he wanted to repay the boy for saving his life and sanity today.

His tired eyes didn't miss the sullen face of one Asato Ichiou as the elders tried to approach him to tell him how worried they had been.

Kaname walked away and ignored them by simply indulging himself in the angelic scent of Zero that enveloped him.

**-0-0-**

Next afternoon, when Zero reached his office, he was livid. Where were the folders that liar of a Pureblood had promised to send him? Neither his own nor the folder about the victim's identity was there.

He momentarily thought about calling him to ask what the hell he was planning to do this time, but with the rage he was feeling right now, he knew he would say things that he didn't even want to waste on the Pureblood's person.

The delivery that Kuran and Kaien had been talking about was there. Waiting for him on his table in a small blue container was a medical pack of blood. He sat down before it and glared at the thermos container as if he could burn holes on it.

Every once in a while, one or two packs of medical blood would be sent to him by Kaien, courtesy of Kuran. Zero didn't know how the Pureblood managed to get it but he could guess the power of his words and how long Kuran's reach was.

Zero, on several occasions, had to drink from the Pureblood directly for reasons concerning survival. And on each and every one of those occasions he had refused to bite him from his neck, opting to drink from his wrist, knowing that it angered Kaname. But as time went by, Kaname seemed to slowly come to accept the fact that Zero would never come and ask for his blood even when he was on the brink of starvation.

The rich texture of Kaname's blood, its tantalizing taste, the euphoria he felt after drinking it terrified Zero. He had realized that he could easily become addicted to it and come begging for it to Kaname like a pathetic dog. He was sure that Kaname knew how he felt about the whole thing and the Pureblood had started to send him these medical blood packs via the Chairman. This was a much more bearable thing for Zero's wounded pride even though the action of drinking cool blood from a nylon pack ironically reminded him of the fictitious vampire lord who got his blood fix from them as if he was happily sucking tomato juice from a juice box.

Zero snorted and went to open the window and lock the door of his office. There wasn't any vampire on his floor who could smell it, but also there wasn't anyone around here who didn't know that he was a vampire who got special deliveries every once in a while. So he didn't care as he settled in his chair and began to drink the cool and disgustingly soothing red liquid. Not soon after he drank the half of it, the pain in chest was gone as if it was never there before.

Distancing his mind from the idea that he was actually consuming some unknown person's blood just like a box of ordinary fruit juice, he directed his attention to the documents before him. He flipped through some court responses to the cases that their department was following, taking notes on his agenda about what to do and what to send. For a while, it occupied him until he reached to the folder his subordinates filled with returned reports about the prosecution processes of the human related crimes.

On top of the folder was a file of A4 size, secured in a clear bag. The document was a strange puzzle like, map like jumble of signs unknown to him with a yellow sticker note attached to it.

"_Chief, this document was mailed to our department a week ago anonymously, but nobody paid attention to it thinking that it must be a joke, until two days ago Kai-san realized that it could be a puzzle of sorts. We tried to solve it and track down the address it was posted from, but the only information we got was that it was sent from the city central post office. The paper didn't have any finger prints on it. And it is yet to be solved by CI._

_Takada."_

Zero's eyes narrowed down dangerously. This thing had been here for a week and he wasn't informed of it? This was unforgivable.

He quickly got rid of the finished blood pack and the blue container to go out and talk to Takada directly. The dark haired, short man who always accompanied him during his field investigations nodded to him in the main hall and Zero asked all the questions that swirled in his mind about the strange document in his hand.

"This one is the original letter that was sent to us, Chief." Takada was saying. "You can see a photocopy of it on nearly every desk here on this floor."

"Does the Superintendent know about this?"

"Yagari-san was the one who sent it to the CI lab and ordered me to send the original to you, Chief."

Zero worried his bottom lip, looking at the paper in his hand.

"Did you search for the mail archives to see if there are any other anonymous mails similar to this?" He didn't know why but Zero could tell that he was getting excited. This was no random joke from a freak.

"No, sir."

"Then call the Archives, go there personally and make them search the records back to the time the Bureau was established. I doubt that anything beyond that time would be kept here but I want a result next morning."

"Yes, Chief."

As Takada hurriedly took out his cell and went to the elevators, Zero walked down to Yagari's office. He was not surprised to find the man smoking under the glaring "No Smoking" sign on the wall of his quarters.

"So you have seen it, Zero." Yagari's single eye was twinkling with a serious glint. One look, and Zero saw many papers on his Shishou's desk covered with all the possible equations to what the strange markings on the puzzle might mean.

"What do you think this is, Sensei?" Zero asked, his eyes quickly scanning Yagari's work to make a sense out of them.

"Sit down, kid." Zero didn't even hear what Yagari had called him, proving how much fascinated he was by the scribbled theories on the papers. He simply took a chair and dragged it up to Yagari's desk and started to study the mess of signs on the document.

"A rectangular puzzle, made up of 20x30 squares." Yagari started.

"That makes 600 units. How many different signs are there?"

"These are numbers, Zero... Not signs..." Zero raised his head to look at Yagari with a doubtful expression on his face.

"Numbers you say..." He raised an eyebrow.

Yagari procured a printed document on which the signs Zero saw on the puzzle were explained. The title of the document made him gape slightly.

"Babylonian numerals?.."

"Yes, Zero. And the entire puzzle is made up with them."

Zero scanned the paper again, his mind quickly replacing some of the strange signs with numbers. But it didn't make any sense to him. Yagari handed him another document, on which the signs were replaced by the Roman numerals.

"This thing doesn't have a certain pattern." Zero observed.

"CI also replaced each number with their corresponding letter on the Latin alphabet." Yagari handed him another paper and Zero tried his best to make sense out of it.

"Maybe they should have checked with the Babylonian letters..." He murmured, again unable to make a sense out of the letters. Apparently, some of the numbers were above the number of letters on the Latin alphabet, so they were left blank. There were also blank spots on the original paper and Zero pointed at them.

"Are these placed here for separating a string of numbers or do they represent number zero?"

Yagari smiled. Sometimes Zero was stunning him with his mind. As his teacher, this was always a nice surprise for Yagari. Babylonian numeric system didn't have a sign for number zero, so in its place they used _blankness_.

"They are used as a placement for number zero. And there isn't a way for these numbers to indicate something in Babylonian alphabet as they didn't have an alphabet in the sense we have, Zero..."

Zero sighed, remembering the old scripts Yagari had showed him when they had studied the old hunter spells from the ancient civilizations around the world. In fact, what little remained behind of them.

"Yeah... They had that pictographs, wedge shaped symbols that can make a translator crawl up to the walls in frustration. And they represented syllables, not letters."

Zero directed his gaze to Yagari and watched the man smoke thoughtfully.

"So, what do you think this is?" He asked.

"I think that it corresponds to the Latin Alphabet, but in what kind of a mathematical system these letters must be arranged for us to make sense of it, I have no idea."

Zero looked at the papers again, feeling unreasonably tense and excited as they talked.

"This is a message from our murderer..." He murmured, eyes deadly serious. "I am sure of it."

Yagari just watched him, inhaling a long drag from his cigarette.

"Why so sure?"

Zero snorted and smiled dangerously.

"If you didn't think so too, then why were you killing your time over it to understand even a part of it? You could easily just let the _geniuses_ in CI lab do their slow job. Besides the date it was sent is right before we had found the woman's body."

Yagari smirked. Snuffing the cigarette bud in the ash tray before lighting up another one. He continued.

"A murderer who knows Babylonian numeric system, which uses number 60 as its base... You are against one hell of a psychopath, Zero. Why I insist that it's the Latin alphabet that we must look at is because this man wants us to read it and understand it as soon as possible... And Latin is one of the surviving ancient languages that is still alive for us hunters and the vampires alike... Nearly all the other ancient ones are either dead or forgotten by us both. Zero, this man wants to be heard... He wants to be acknowledged for his so called mastery... He is itching to be found."

By then Zero's lips were pressed into a thin line.

"600 squares of numbers or letters... How long do you think it would take for us to understand the mathematical system behind the arrangement?"

"One or two days..." Yagari informed.

"Any news from the Council about what they decided on the case's future?" Zero asked distastefully.

Yagari sighed, "In fact...."

And before he could finish his sentence, the door was knocked and the person entered without waiting for a reply.

Zero felt a sudden spike of fury when he saw who was standing calmly and silently in the doorway with two folders in his hands.

"Good evening." Kaname spoke, his calm, maroon gaze taking in the hostility he found in Yagari's eye, and meeting with Zero's anger filled ones levelly as if last night was just a distant memory for him.

"I am sorry for the suddenness of it, but I came to tell Kiryuu-kun that we are called by the Council tonight."

Zero found the time to feel surprised amidst the disappointment of his suddenly ruined evening and his eyebrows creased in suspicion about if he had heard the smug looking Pureblood correctly.

Kaname gave him a small and mockingly polite smile, answering Zero's unspoken question.

"Yes, Kiryuu-kun... Together."

-

_TBC..._

_-Arceo: Enclose, Shut_

_-Effactum: Break in pieces, Shatter_

_-"Desistere, ob nostra signum sanguineus." Roughly means -I think-: "Desist, for the sake of our seal of blood."_

Her daim hazır ve nazır biçimde _arkamda_ bulunan tam teşekküllü destek birimim Üstad C'ye selamlar!


	5. Unpack My Heart With Words

_**AN: **Okay, Another monstrous chapter is awaiting you. 25 pages in length ^^. All mistakes are mine, please enjoy and don't forget to send me a review..._

**-**

**Chapter 5: Unpack My Heart With Words**

Zero walked brusquely in front of the Pureblood, not caring if Kaname was following him or not. He descended down the stairs in quick and sure steps, choosing not to use the elevators. He bet Kaname was watching his back in amusement now for his avoidance of being in the small and claustrophobic cubicle alone with him. Zero frowned at himself for even caring about what the Pureblood thought.

"You know I don't like it when you mask your presence around me." He murmured, still descending from the stairs.

Kaname steadily followed him. He couldn't help a small, sad smile forming on his lips. The way the hunter discreetly avoided using the elevators didn't escape him. So, was his presence that much of a disturbance to the ever scowling ex-human? Sadly, the answer was a yes.

"I thought you would leave the place if you had felt my presence even before I got on your division's floor." He answered truthfully.

Zero snorted. He hated it when Kaname played dumb with him. Because, Zero was sure that Kaname knew how he loathed it when he sneaked on him like a predator and yet did the same thing again and again just to spite and irritate him.

He pushed the exit door open and headed towards the parking lot where he had left his car. Kaname suppressed a sigh. He knew that the hunter was not very happy about being with him immediately after that episode he had endured in Kaname's mansion, but there was nothing Kaname could do about it.

He himself certainly didn't like the situation he was in. He didn't like to visit the Bureau personally since so many people knew who he was. Even when they didn't, Kaname was aware that he drew too much attention to himself with the pureblood aura he was emitting. Getting wary and guarded looks from the hunters and the unsuspecting human police officers was not his idea of a comfortable evening. On top of that, he had to endure the dour face of the moody hunter and confront a group of old vultures in that irritated condition.

He wasn't concealing his aura to gall the silver haired hunter, on the contrary, he was doing so just to make the hunter forget about his presence. He knew that his aura was offending the hunter's senses, sometimes the thickness and the weight of it inadvertently agitated Zero. Kaname was painfully aware of this. He thought, maybe by masking his aura, Zero's senses and thoughts would focus on his person and not his 'Pureblood' presence.

But after the incident that happened last night, it was clear as day that Zero had no tolerance for getting his senses messed up by being close to his so called tormentor. Kaname watched Zero open the door of his pearl white Mustang and get into the driver's seat without even sparing a glance at him. Kaname hesitated, his elegant stride halting. He tried to imagine how it must feel for Zero to be beside him when in their earlier encounters it was proven that the huffy hunter had seemed so enthusiastic to bolt and get away from him as far away as possible.

Kaname felt saddened by the idea. And the feeling quickly left its place to frustration with himself when he realized that he was forlornly hoping for the hunter to just let him sit beside his driver's seat and treat this as nothing but a simple ride to somewhere, rather than a ride to hell with his personal demon stuck by his side.

"Are you coming or not, Kuran?"

He came to his senses with Zero's tersely bit out question,. He hurried and got in to the classic car and donned his mask on his face to look indifferent and as suave as possible. He cringed inside. Here he was sitting next to one of the few people in his life with whom he didn't want to use his vast catalog of well exercised fake expressions, but that person denied him the simple pleasure to do so with a tremendous effort. Sometimes Kaname asked himself why he bothered... But his treacherous heart refused to give the logical answer he sought for.

The car glided swiftly on the asphalt, its two occupants sharing an awkward silence. Zero resolutely kept his eyes on the wet road, his eyes strikingly lit up by the street lamps and the headlights of the other cars. He had the unmistakable feeling of being watched nagging him to turn his attention towards the Pureblood sitting next to him, but his still brewing discomfiture was getting augmented by the disturbing silence in the car. He tried to get rid of it just for his own comfort.

"So, why are we called? And together nonetheless..."

Kaname inclined his head towards him and after a thoughtful pause he answered.

"I think they are going to propose us something."

Zero snickered humorlessly, "I bet those dinosaurs are planning something quite deviant again. Don't they have any other _pressing matters_ in their hands since they are oh so high and important?"

Kaname allowed a small smile to bloom on his lips. "Dinosaurs..." He murmured, silently thankful for Zero's crude but to the point ability to describe the things they hated mutually. He also knew that Zero was only venting his stress and anger, not trying to break the ice between them. But even so, knowing that they had a thing in their life which connected them helped Kaname find a sense of camaraderie with the hunter, though it was based on hatred and built involuntarily.

"What kind of proposal was it?" Zero asked yet again, curious despite himself.

"I don't know the details but it must be pertinent to your current position in the case you are investigating." Kaname provided.

Zero scoffed. "You mean me being able to reach to some classified information about your kind and past, don't you Kuran?" And for the first time since they had gotten into the car, Zero glanced sideways at the Pureblood.

Kaname held the irritated gaze. Zero was clever and it was really hard to confuse the hunter with words. His relentless distrust towards the vampire society had to be fueling his suspicious nature, but Kaname was aware that Zero's begrudging approach would not be of any help to them tonight before the Council members. Disparaging the vampire elders by calling them _vampire_ as if the word was the name of a particularly atrocious pest would certainly result in a scene. Kaname wasn't going to let Zero do as he pleased. Absolutely not.

"You certainly aren't contemplating on divulging your ideas about it before the Council tonight, are you?" Kaname asked with a contrite look in his maroon eyes.

Zero scowled, the violet of his eyes suddenly darkening.

"I don't remember a time when I had to ask others what to say or think, Kuran." He bit out.

"This attitude of yours won't help us there, Kiryuu-kun." Kaname argued, trying to be reasonable to reach a common grounds with the hunter before they reach the Council. Kaname was tolerant of listening to Zero's deprecating words about vampire kind in general; he was mostly immune to it by now. But it was completely another thing to let the hunter deride the society that Kaname was technically the leader of in front of all other elders whilst he was standing right beside Zero.

This was hypocritical, Kaname could see it, but it was also a necessary precaution to put his own house in order first if he wanted to showcase that Zero was under his will and service, not vice versa.

Kaname cringed inwardly at the near accuracy of that final string of thought. It was both amazing and frightening how his thoughts just told him the bitter truth when he momentarily let the reigns loose when confronted by Zero.

"I have a feeling that I am going to be tested..." Zero gritted out. "That's why you're coming with me, aren't you?"

Kaname didn't have a thing to counter that. He exhaled ruefully. Tonight, not only Zero but also he himself was going to be watched closely no matter how much he abhorred the idea of it.

Zero got into the intersection on the corner of which the gloomy Council building stood. He didn't like this. He was expected to behave like a servant... Or more accurately, he was going to be tested whether he was being a slave worthy of keeping alive for Kaname. Their reluctance in handing him the authority to have the access to probe their dirty secrets, even though to deter him from doing so was illegal, certainly told something about how little trust they put in him although he was Kuran Kaname's servant.

Zero scoffed, trying to dissipate the building edginess he felt.

"They don't trust you..." He reasoned, parking his car in a fairly secluded alley near the grand entrance of the ancient building.

Vexed inside by the comment, Kaname narrowed down his eyes. Zero refused to meet the garnet orbs, his hands fumbling with his seat belt.

"You are being the top most reason for that, Kiryuu-kun." He murmured dangerously. Zero stopped and turned his face towards the Pureblood with ire illuminating his amethyst eyes.

"Since when have you been seeking their trust, Kuran?" He derided, feeling the atmosphere thickening between them. He knew that he was provoking the Pureblood but damn him, Kaname was just too frigid and controlled even in his anger. And that irritated him to no end.

"I will talk to them, you'll stand by my side." Kaname fisted his right hand by his side, his voice a barely restrained hiss. He watched as Zero's eyes widened with momentary shock and then narrow down to slits with raw hatred.

"Like a good dog, no?" He asked stiffly. Kaname didn't answer and opted holding the hunter's dangerous glare levelly.

"Well, sorry that this dog won't open the door for his stuck-up master." With that Zero bolted out of the car and headed towards the entrance, seething. If he was a dog in everyone's eyes, then he was adamant on showing that he would not only bark, but could also bite. And viciously at that... His right hand quickly went to check his Bloody Rose under his light blue coat. But before he could turn the corner and reach the doors a strong hand gripped his left wrist and he felt a sudden and unexpected fear shot through his spine. He barely refrained from the impulsive act of tugging his hand away like he had done last night.

Maybe, because Kaname also didn't want to replay the events of the last night on the streets, he was quick to loosen his grip and appearing in front of the still mildly freaked out hunter.

"Kiryuu, listen to me..." Kaname started immediately to not to lose the chance to force some sense into the silver haired hunter's obstinate head. But his voice trailed off when he saw the completely unguarded look of hurt and alarm in those lilac eyes.

"Ze..."

Zero gasped, as if he had been under the water and just reached to the surface. Was Kuran about to call him by his given name? He felt an irrepressible shiver travel down his frame, waking him from his momentary stupor. With wide eyes, he looked at Kaname's, dare he say, stricken expression... Why was that?

Kaname couldn't believe what was about to pour down from his lips. The surge of emotion he felt upon seeing that frightened and lost expression in the hunter's eyes was enough to make him utter Zero's name, the thing the hunter despised most hearing from his lips. Yet, what caused Kaname to stop and lose his composure was the undeniably compelling urge that demanded him to reach out and assure Zero that he meant no harm, absolutely no harm to him.

_Oh, the things you do to me..._

Kaname bit his lip imperceptibly and realized that he was still holding the hunter's hand and Zero was still unaware of it. Despite himself, his thumb ghosted over the cool skin of the upper part of the long, pale hand and he felt relief upon feeling it as smooth as it should be. The was no trace from the gashes he had made.

Zero blinked upon the soft and warm touch, suddenly feeling as if something in him was breeched forcefully in the most timid of ways. He jerked his hand from the Pureblood's hold and turned sideways, angrily cursing the older vampire under his breath, but for a reason unknown to him, he stayed rooted and did nothing so the Pureblood could say whatever he damn well pleased much to his self abhorrence.

_The things you make me do..._

"Kiryuu-kun, if you want to get out of those doors without ruining the things that you have been working for, just leave everything to me. I know it is hard for you to stay put, but think about the victim and her family." Kaname whispered, now without a menace in his serious tone.

Zero glanced sideways at him, eyes doubtful and clearly showing his discomfiture. In his ears he could still hear the way the first two letters of his name had been uttered by Kaname in such sincere urgency. He was used to the _Kiryuu-kun_. at times when the Pureblood was angry, he would also use _Kiryuu_; but his given name... The times when Kaname had used it had always been when Zero was either close to being unconscious or in too much pain to care and remember. Belatedly, he realized that he was somehow disappointed for not being able to hear it from Kaname's lips when he was clear headed enough to catch the ring the Pureblood's voice added to it.

Clearly, he was getting ridiculous beyond redemption.

He nodded his head once firmly, his eyes hardening. "Alright. But don't expect me to stomach it if they insult me or my family out of the blue. What I am now and who I was in the past have nothing to do with this."

Kaname exhaled slowly, his calmness returning him gradually as he forced himself to forget about those few moments of utter loss of control on his part. Shoulders relaxed, he nodded towards the way and walked away, not waiting for the headstrong hunter.

Zero followed the Pureblood through the revolving doors into a pompous hall that led to the main meeting rooms and the personal chambers above. Kaname was walking in a relaxed and suave manner, his every sure step causing his long black coat to swish around his legs, adding to his _'I own this place'_ poise. Zero suddenly felt self conscious. He looked at his casual attire and remembered the dress code that was required to enter the council room. He gritted his teeth as a guard approached them.

"Sir, your attire is not suitable." The vampire guardian uttered with a bored and stiff tone. The man, whom Zero's senses registered as a Level C, looked at him from head to toe, apparently thinking of him as a lowly Level D commoner who didn't deserve his time.

Kaname stopped his stride and glanced back. Not wanting the Pureblood to announce everyone that he was Kaname's slave and it was okay for him to enter, Zero revealed his badge that shone with a cold metallic gleam under the dim lights to the guard. One of the eyebrows of the guard lifted when he understood that Zero was from the Bureau and a Chief at the top of that. So he relented.

"Then I have to demand that you leave your gun here, sir." He nodded towards his visible holster.

Zero's lips thinned with annoyance. "I am an officer who is on duty now, you have no right to ask for that from me." But his rebuke didn't deter the guardian.

"Sir, if you want to enter, you have to leave your gun here."

Zero inhaled, exasperated. Why was he putting up with this shit again? Just when he was starting to consider the idea of leaving the damnable place for Kaname to do as he saw fit, Kaname approached, his shoes making rigid click-clack sounds on the marble flooring.

"He is called here in with me." He said with a clear irritation shown in his aura. Kaname wanted to get over this as soon as possible and it was starting to get on his nerves how everything seemed to work against him.

The guard's eyes widened with realization. When he talked again, there was a clear tremor in his previously bored tone.

"Kuran-sama... You know the regulations... Please." He amended.

Zero hated it, the very idea of parting with his gun in such a place made him feel vulnerable like he had never felt before, but he didn't want to let Kaname to order him. He simply shrugged off his coat and unfastened the holster from his slender shoulders, aware that Kaname and the guard were watching his every move.

Zero aggressively untied the silver chain of the gun from his belt and handed the Bloody Rose to the guard whilst it was still in its black leather confines.

"Don't touch the gun... Handle it from the leather parts." He ordered begrudgingly. And he stayed there to observe the guard do as he was told. With wide eyes, the Level C did his job and watched the two vampires go in.

"Why, Kiryuu-kun?" Kaname couldn't help asking the reason. Zero could simply hand over the silver gun bare.

"You know that it is not just a lump of metal, Kuran." Zero gritted out. "It feels like someone is yet again taking _him_ away from me... And I can't bear the feeling." Zero put on his coat again, not wanting to think about the reason why he disclosed that bit of information to the Pureblood. He simply felt alone and incomplete without the silver gun. But as he said, it was not just a trusted gun for him anymore since the day he had drunk that precious crimson liquid from that crystal vial to satiate his first blood lust. Whenever he had to leave the Bloody Rose behind, he felt deep inside him that a child was calling out for his name desperately for him to return and get him from the hands of the strangers.

Zero swallowed to quell the feeling.

Kaname nodded once and didn't ask further, since he too very well remembered the reason behind it. _Him... Ichiru... _For whose death Zero was putting the blame on Kaname's parents...

The grand ornate wings of the door they stopped before opened wide and pulled them from their inner demons to land them into a room of real, breathing ones. Kaname entered the room, unfazed, closely followed by Zero.

The occupants of the room were already on their feet, apparently opting to wait for their arrival standing and talking amongst themselves. Zero's eyes swept over the faces of the elders with the inborn caution of a hunter and his eyes landed on a figure which stood prominently among the rest due to his well practiced elegance of a snake. Asato Ichiou.

They were in for a horribly vexatious night if the displeased and perfunctory smile on Asato's face was any indication.

Zero stood behind as Kaname was welcomed with fake enthusiasm. If the Pureblood wanted to deal with this, so be it, Zero thought dryly.

"Gentlemen, please take your seats." Asato's voice demanded and the vampires slowly cleared the space. Zero glanced at Kaname but apparently the Pureblood preferred to stand before the seating place, in the middle of the large room. Well, Zero thought, at least he wasn't left there to stand alone.

This place hid one of Zero's most dreaded memories, but Zero was no longer an eight year old who had been crushed under the swirling tumult of the vampires' auras here. He stood tall and gazed into the eyes of each and every vampire before him with a glint of challenge in his eyes which he was sure that the old bastards were mistaking for his boastful confidence because he was the sole ex-human servant of their leader.

Kaname observed the occupants of the room with an emotionless face. He never liked to be in the Council in the first place, but he was much more controlled and cold blooded in hiding his ire than Zero could ever be. So he simply stood, refusing to take a seat, not because he didn't want to alienate the hunter any more than necessary, but solely because he wanted to give the signal that he didn't deem the matter at hand as an important one. Being always on alert before these cunning old foxes wouldn't hurt.

Asato cleared his voice again and directly addressed the Pureblood, ignoring Zero since he saw him only as a slave.

"Kaname-sama, I am greatly sorry that we had to call for your presence here for an insignificant matter, but there are some unrest among the Council members about letting Kiryuu Zero and the Bureau to continue the investigation of the current case."

"I am aware of it, Ichiou." Kaname interrupted with elegance, aware that Zero was watching him.

"But I have to remind you and all other members here that they have previously agreed that these kind of cases and incidents would fall under the jurisdiction of the Bureau and they would have all the authority over them."

"Yes, it was..." Ichiou tried to interject, but Kaname only rose one of his eyebrows slightly and continued.

"Or are the Council members implying that they would prefer going against the act they did so willingly legislate a few years ago?"

Silence settled upon the sitting rows and Kaname watched everyone's faces for even a hint of acting against what he had reminded them of.

"What was it, Ichiou? 120 votes of approval against 26, including the 4 abstaining voters?"

There was a certain tone in Kaname's voice that dared to be challenged even though the look in his eyes didn't change, nor the poise of his body was any different.

"But, this man is a hunter, Kaname-sama!" Came the reply from behind the rows and as if waiting for this, everyone started to voice their disapproval at the same time. Elders voiced their opinions one by one in an overwhelming rush.

"Kuran-sama, even though he is your ex-human, his heritage is that of a hunter's. He is the heir of one of the greatest vampire hunters whom also became our greatest enemies."

"So?" Kaname asked, getting irritated by the second but doing a spectacular job of suppressing it from showing on his face.

"Please do not take it as an insult, but he could very well be a traitor, what if he goes and spills our secrets to the Hunter Association behind our backs?"

Upon this remark some of the voices died down for it was on the border of being both an insult to the Pureblood as if they doubted his control over his slave and a well veiled accusation to him that he could be nurturing a traitor with his own hands even though he was aware of the situation.

Zero balled his fists by his sides. He didn't expect to be hailed as one of them, heaven forbid, but he was also sick of being treated like an insect.

Sensing Zero's eventual outburst, Kaname raised his hand to him, reminding him of who was in charge and he continued.

"I think you are not fully aware of what you are insinuating, gentlemen." He commented with narrowed down eyes, lips thinned to show his distaste.

A string of apologies began but Kaname hushed them down with his hand. This charade began to grate on his nerves.

"Distrust shown against a minion of mine is distrust shown against my own person. Am I clear on this subject, gentlemen?" He asked in a hushed tone, his voice and eyes demanding obedience.

Most of the members paled when Kaname purposefully unleashed his aura, laden with infuriation and discontentment.

Asato, undeterred from adding his unnecessary two cents, asked.

"Kaname-sama, aren't you going too far to back the whims of a mere ex-human whose father is the murderer of your parents?"

Kaname didn't have time to answer as Zero stepped by Kaname's side and held his head lower, amethyst eyes full of animosity, as if he was ready to pounce.

"What?" Zero asked, mockingly incredulous, "Can't you see the irony here? The son of a murderer is here to offer his assistance to catch another murderer... This time someone from your high and mighty kind..."

Hadn't Kaname had an iron control over his facial expression, he didn't doubt that his eyes would have just gone as wide as they could go. Was Zero insulting the elders even though he was standing beside him? For a lowly minion to step beside his lord and openly ridicule others of high status, before his lord gave him the permission to speak...

Zero had sounded blood thirsty but Kaname feared that that blood would be Zero's to spill here.

"Kiryuu!" Asato's voice boomed over the others' offended screeches. "I don't recall granting you the permission to speak!"

"Well, I didn't ask for one in the first place." Zero answered with a voice full of venom, feeling adrenaline rush to his limbs and brain. He was sure that the aura he was emitting now was close to that of the Nobles and some of the vampires actually looked at him in bewilderment as his aggravated and angry presence washed over them. His aura was a distinct one, it was a mix of a hunter's, an ex-human's and a pureblood's thanks to Kaname's irregular feedings.

Spurred on by Kaname's lack of reaction towards his outburst, Zero carried on.

"Why are you so scared? I already know some of your secrets regarding your genealogy. Is it such an ego bruiser to you to admit that you people have weaknesses, too? Or are you this much disgusted by the fact that you are not as perfect and holy as you might actually delude yourselves to believe?"

Asoto's ice blue eyes flared with a bright shade of crimson for a second. Zero knew it when he hit the spot in a single shot. His eyes turned a shade darker despite himself as he reveled in the confusion and the deprecated look he could see in the eyes of the room's occupants. He could sense that his fangs were slightly showing.

"You think I am inferior? You think I am nothing but a mindless dog? Well, you are mistaken gravely! You people are fearing of something, aren't you? You are hiding something behind your tightly closed lips. Let me remind you that you are all bound by laws and the acts you yourselves agreed upon exercising. You are not being honest with yourselves and with us! If you are bothered by something, go apply to the prosecutors. This Council is not the only legislative organ in this country, climb down from your high seats and and join with us lowly serfs!"

"You ingrate!"

"You filthy dog!"

"How dare you belittle us and our Council when standing right before us?"

Zero listened to the shouted spites with such a straight and fearless face that the sight of it further fueled the rage among the vampires. He hissed lowly, but he was aware that he was listened to closely.

"I am neither an ingrate, nor a filthy dog... At least not any more than you lot are!"

And in a flash Kaname's dark figure stepped before him and he felt such a hard blow on his face that he felt thrown to the side despite himself and his fang tore his own lip, the scent of his sweet blood immediately blossoming in the stuffed air. Not only the blow made him lose his momentum but Kaname's tremendous pureblood aura crushed his senses momentarily, paralyzing him and rendering his limbs useless because he didn't expect it.

He was a fool. Apparently, the Pureblood felt offended and feared that his flawless show of absolute control over the situation, over the mask he created for the elders to see, cracking.

But before his mind even registered these ideas completely, he was hauled to his feet again, his fall stopped by a single hand holding him from his collar. When his eyes finally was able to see clearly, he was face to face with a very much paled and angry Kaname whose fangs were elongated slightly and a crimson color dominating his infuriated garnet eyes.

For a single moment, Zero felt panic and hurt rising in him like a wild fire. His eyes widened, completely losing their darkened violet quality, his fangs receding. But that didn't last long. He quickly got a grip of his hatred and suffocated his pain, fear and hurt with it. The look in Kaname's eyes certainly would make anyone cringe and tremble in fear but Zero reminded himself that he wasn't expecting anything contrary from the Pureblood. After all, he was just a hair's width away from openly calling the Council members as dogs.

"Beg for forgiveness..." Kaname practically hissed, his husky voice painfully loud in the complete silence of the room.

Zero didn't relent. What did he have to lose after all? Nothing, really. He was already lost. He didn't want to give these bastards another win in his pride's expense. Kaname surrounded him with his aura, forcing him to speak even though he didn't want to. Zero realized that Kaname was forcing his will upon him, trying to break his stubborn resistance. It poured oil on Zero's fiery anger. His arms were rendered useless by his sides and he knew Kaname could throw him back to the entrance if he wanted to.

He showed his refusal with his eyes. For some reason he knew that Kaname couldn't kill him before them, he needed him and this was just a show that Kaname put up for them to satiate their anger and hatred towards him, as well as a show to demonstrate his control over Zero. It was ridiculous, but Zero didn't want to give Kaname the pleasure. He was treated as a dog, as a slave enough for one night.

"Beg for forgiveness, Zero..."

Kaname growled low in his throat, eying the dribbling blood from the corner of Zero's lips with open hunger. His patience was thinning and he could feel the eyes on his side watching him and Zero with satisfaction. He wanted to toss the level headed hunter against the walls for forcing him to do this in front of such an audience. His control was waning and the complete lack of surrender in the hunter's silvery eyes railed his ire. Without thinking, he did the first thing that came to his mind to make Zero yield.

Zero watched in horror as Kaname pulled him closer to himself and dipped his head into the crook of his neck's tattooed side, the hand on his collar easily ripping his shirt to reach to the skin.

Zero froze, his mind going numb just like his limbs. His body jerked when he felt Kaname's hot breath on his neck, the tattoo immediately ten folding the sensation into a devastating pleasure to prepare Zero for his master's bite. Kaname's strong hands were gripping his shoulders with crushing force unnecessarily. Zero was already as helpless as he ever could be before him, he winced, eyes watering as he felt Kaname open his mouth to bite.

Zero squeezed his eyes shut and cried, trying to turn his head away. But Kaname's fingers twisted in his hair and kept him still. Zero didn't know who was shaking for what reason anymore. Was he...? Because of this gut wrenching fear... Or was Kaname...? Because of how much he wanted to just sink his fangs into his flesh... He couldn't comprehend.

"Apologize, Zero..." Came Kaname's whisper just for his ears, sounding strangely tormented. "Apologize."

And he released Zero from his hold and will, causing the disoriented male to fall on his knees with a barely audible sob chocked in his throat. For a second, Zero didn't even comprehend that he got away without a scratch from Kaname's hold and his eyes widened in surprise. He was breathing harshly and he desperately tried to get a hold of himself before he became anymore pathetic than he already was reduced to feel. He grabbed his arms to force away their insistent trembling and closed his eyes, jaw clenched tightly and still on his knees.

So... Kuran was this desperate to show the others that Zero was at his mercy and disposal, that he was just an insignificant chessman in his game... Totally expendable and not even worthy of keeping his pride intact....

Zero didn't understand why the knowledge of it hurt somewhere inside him irrevocably instead of making him brew a tempest even harsher than his earlier outburst.

_Why am so pathetic?_ _Have I been expecting Kuran to back me, agree with me, support me?_

Had he had the power to do so, he would have laughed at himself and that foolish part of himself that still hurt and feared the Pureblood. Any moment he expected Kaname to haul him onto his feet yet again and finish what he had started to demonstrate how weak he was, how afraid he was, how on the verge of tears he was upon the mere implication of being bitten... in front of these monsters... as if he was just a worthless little game.

Zero drew in a shaky breath and steeled himself. He wasn't going to run away. He wasn't going to give them the pleasure of seeing him escape with his tail between his legs. He was a hunter before he was vampire and a detective. He prided himself for it, he believed that it was the last redeeming thing left in his crumbled life and he held fast on it.

Zero steadied his stance and raised his head, refusing to bow it down any longer. He would show them that he was more of a human than they could ever hope to become.

"I apologize." He spoke clearly, directly looking at the chairman, Asato.

Still on one of his knees he repeated, seeing the slight slip of the perfect masks on the elders' faces.

"I formally apologize. But let me state firmly that this case is mine to investigate. You can talk to your lawyers if you want to change the holder of the jurisdiction, but if you're aware of the regulations as much as you claim, your endeavors will be fruitless. Your race chose to co-exist with the humans and to be held subject to the laws and regulations of the human race. And as a representative of both the humans and vampires, who holds an official position in the jurisdiction system, I implore your Council to grant me the permission of using the resources at your disposal to conclude this case, sir."

Both Kaname and the elders were rendered speechless. Asato gazed upon Zero with undisguised wonder and distaste, but to be asked of permission thus formally by the tempestuous hunter tied his tongue. He leaned towards the other members on his either side, whispering them something without tearing his icy eyes from Zero's prone but proud figure. When he spoke next, there was a devilish glint in his eyes that contradicted with his calm face.

"We heard your request, Chief Kiryuu." He addressed the hunter properly this time. "Yet your earlier display of violence and disobedience forced us to bring forth a condition. We decided that your actions during this case are to be monitored and reported back to us by Kuran-sama."

Zero's eyes widened a fraction and immediately blazed with anger and he got up from his kneeling position, readying himself to argue back. But Kaname beat him to it with expressing his consent.

"You are aware that this will cause me much trouble, aren't you Ichiou?" He said in a low voice. Zero didn't even glance towards him to realize Kaname's displeasure and he gritted his teeth.

"The Council offers its apologies, Kaname-sama, but this is our condition." Asato firmly stated.

"So be it then." Kaname announced. "We are to use whatever means are at your disposal from now on without further giving notice to the Council."

Asato nodded his head and raised his hand announcing that the tedious session was dispersed and the members of the Council started to get up from their seats.

Zero didn't want to stay any longer. It wasn't showing on his face but he was barely containing his rage towards the Pureblood. He just wanted to get the hell out of this cursed place and return to his car where his folders waited for him.

"Gentlemen, we have to leave now." He heard Kaname's voice and without waiting for him, in quick strides he went to the grand entrance. Leaving the humming voices behind, Zero approached the front desk where he had left his gun. With a rigid movement of his head he demanded his trust and shed his coat in jerky movements and strapped his holster back to his left shoulder. He hastily passed the revolving doors not wanting the Pureblood to catch up with him. Since he had his gun safely at his side, Zero doubted that if they met again, he couldn't refrain himself from shooting the Pureblood point blank from his pretty head.

A bone chilling gust of wind greeted him outside. Though the sensation was most uncomfortable, it somehow helped Zero's anger to cool down a bit. With rushed steps he turned into the alley where he had parked his car, his boots splashing the pools of collected rain water everywhere. This had been a very bad night and Zero thought that he wasted his time for a permission he didn't even need in the first place. The bastards were tied by the law but they had the gall to require a formal permission for it. Zero barely restrained himself from kicking the pavement in frustration. But instead he chose to plan his visit to the victim's family. The fact that Kuran had forgotten the folder on the victim in the car was apparently the only good thing of this night.

Kaname quickly left the building in search of Zero. The way the hunter simply ran away from him irked him further after the episode they had endured because of the hunter's unchecked and mindless actions. Kaname was furious with himself for restoring to that display of violence. He was not some brute who went about grabbing people's necks and threatening them with biting. But Zero was amazingly capable of forcing out the most vicious and unpredictable sides of him... before the eyes of the others, no less...

He was degraded in the most derogatory of ways. His minion rebelled against him, his lack of control was displayed before the Council in a flashy way. He was reduced to the level of the others who used dire and bitter solutions to exercise their authority over the lower ranked vampires. He was different from them, damn it, but what he had done had certainly proved otherwise. All thanks to the whims of one simple ex-human who was unable to keep his promise with him of letting him be in charge because of his stupid hatred and hot-bloodedness.

Kaname's mind didn't even register the harshness of the icy wind blowing in his face. He was simply seeing red. But under all those reasons he was furious because Zero forced him to use the hunter's greatest fear for something as ridiculous as that display of control and obedience. Kaname's rancor was ten-folding when he remembered the look of hunger he had caught in the eyes of the others upon the smell of Zero's shed blood. He felt jealousy grip his insides. He had been forced to spill the blood of an important person for him and had to endure the belittling yet hungry gazes that settled themselves unashamedly over the very same person.

Zero was pulling the worst out of him... And for that Kaname was adamant to show the hunter how much he hated it when his patience was tested like this.

His vampire speed enabled him to catch the hunter before he could step into his car. Zero snarled viciously and pushed the Pureblood back to create himself room enough to enter the car but Kaname was sure-footed and didn't budge even a bit.

"Get lost before I shoot you, Kuran!" He gritted out, more than a little freaked out by the close proximity of the Pureblood. They were standing in the narrow space between the car and the side wall of the alley and when the Pureblood closed in on him after masking his presence completely agitated Zero further.

He gave a last harsh push to Kaname's chest and this time Kaname chose to back down a step, aware of how tense and infuriated the hunter was.

"What the hell do you want now? Have you come to finish what you have started there, damn leech?" Zero's voice was a little lower than blatant shouting.

"What have we agreed before, Kiryuu? How much more irresponsible could you be before someone ripped your head and gave it your hands?" Kaname asked with rancor dripping from his voice.

"I can do whatever the hell I want. I am not a dog and I certainly could not stand and do nothing when they treated me like a fucking slave!"

"That's what you are!" Kaname felt his fangs grow and watched the hurt spread into Zero's darkened eyes. "In the eyes of the others you are a slave, it's high time for you to learn to live with it!"

It took a moment for Zero to collect himself, suddenly his ire settled deep into his stomach and he deemed that arguing this with a pureblood who were revered as a god among his kin was worthless and strangely hurtful. Kaname would never understand what he had been going through because of him. He would never understand what kind of a feeling it was to be forced to feel always less, always incapable, always belittled for a thing he hadn't even had a say in.

He scoffed with a mock smile, eyes hard as violet gem stones.

"Right, Kuran... It seems you are just another of those bastards whose head is full of your ridiculous class system.... You are even a bigger liar than those scums sitting happily in their nestle of blood and bones."

Kaname watched Zero with rapidly widening eyes. His very being just wanted to rip the throat of the hunter for bad mouthing him so, but he refused to fall to that level.

"One day you'll be killed for that bloody mouth of yours and even I won't be able to save you from your doom, Kiryuu." He practically hissed through aroused fangs.

Zero stood stiffly, his breath turning to smoke rapidly and he shivered under the cruel wind.

"Stop acting like giving a damn about it, Kuran. I saw how you _saved_ me back there. You are nothing but a bloodsucker and I never cared about how pure a bastard's blood is!"

And Zero found himself pressed against the wall of the alley, his back and head hitting the concrete hard with a loud thud. He suppressed the spike of fear within himself with his ever growing spite. His eyes narrowed down and he challenged, as he dug the barrel of his Bloody Rose to Kaname's side, where his heart was.

Kaname expected to feel the cool metal pressed against his ribs, Zero was a hunter with astonishing reflexes. But what he didn't expect was the words that flowed down from the hunter's lips.

"All these years you have been imperceptibly trying to make me believe that you are different from them... That you honestly wanted your so called peace and harmony... Say, Kuran, are you trying to fool me or yourself? Which of us? In the end, you are nothing but a pathetic little leech who is afraid of what the elders might think about you if your toy rebelled against you... Are you this much of a control freak that you contradict with your ideals? Are you this much of dishonest to yourself and what you want?"

Zero spoke lowly, color draining from his face by the second as Kaname pressed against his windpipe more and more. Kaname growled low in his throat as a warning. The tremendous effort he put into control his urge to shred the ex-human into pieces was showing in his pale and contorted face. Zero was playing with fire but he didn't care. He just wanted the Pureblood know these, know how he felt.

"I saw the hunger in your eyes yesterday... I saw it tonight... How can you speak of equality and harmony when you are also a beast who despairs even for a drop of blood? How can you tell me that I am a slave when you are the one who robbed me of my freedom in the first place? How can you treat me like that in front of others as if I deserved it, as if I asked you to be like this, Kuran?"

Kaname's breath trembled in his throat as he listened to the hunter. He knew all these, damn it... He knew that he also was a monster for doing all these to Zero, for forcing him to feel like this. But these were all for his safety. These were all for the revenge he promised himself to take someday in the name of Zero and himself.

Yet hearing these accusations from the hunter's lips was too much for his unstable emotions right now. He admitted silently to himself that he had been wrong in what he had done to Zero in the Council. But he had had to... It was for Zero's and his own safety. Because of a completely irrational and foolish fear, Kaname had forced himself to act on his instincts. Had he not punished Zero for his outburst, the Council might have had locked him up not just for degrading a legal organ of the government but also for his impudence against the vampire lords in general.

This was the last thing he wanted. Especially after he had seen the way the elders had been eying the young man as if he was a piece of raw meat, all bloody and delicious to take a bite from.

"You don't understand..." He whispered, loosening his hold on Zero a bit and lowering his eyes to the still blood stained lips of the hunter.

"The way you talk to me... Somebody else would have already killed you and discarded your corpse on the streets, Kiryuu."

"Then do so..." Zero replied between tightened lips. "Do what you have come here to do... Or leave me be and scram, Kuran."

"Stop provoking me, Kiryuu!" Kaname harshly pushed Zero against the wall once more, the concrete slowly giving way under his force and felt the barrel of the Bloody Rose dig into his side full force.

"Can't you see that what you have done there is unforgivable, Kiryuu? Can't you see the position you have pushed me into before them? They appointed me to monitor you to mock me and you! Couldn't you just shut up and let me do the talking? Aren't you aware that you did exactly what Ichiou wanted?"

Zero pushed Kaname's shoulder back as his gun insistently probed Kaname's ribs.

"Do I seem like I care, Kuran, after all you had put me through?"

That was the final straw for Kaname. Even though he was slightly concerned about the hunter pulling the trigger on instinct upon what he was planning to do next, his patience thinned before he could catch himself and he went for the hunter's neck in a sudden movement that earned him a shocked gasp from Zero.

Apparently, when Zero had told him that he could take what he wanted, he had been simply bluffing. Kaname breathed in the scent of the ex-human whom he was holding still now with both arms. The way the earthy and rainy smell of the hunter's skin was intoxicating and Kaname thought he longed for it for far too long.

"Is this what you want, Kiryuu?" He asked in a low voice as he nuzzled the crook of the hunter. He pressed his body against Zero's and realized that Zero was trembling softly under him. The feeling spiked the Pureblood's predatory instincts. He reveled in it even if the cause of the tremors might be the cold wind. The feel of Zero's smaller body pressed helplessly against his appeased his senses. He licked the skin under his lips, his own breath quaking in his chest. He heard the sharp intake of breath near his ear and sighed hotly against Zero's neck, causing goosebumps to appear on the smooth surface.

"Aren't you going to shoot me?" He whispered huskily and kissed the pattern of the tattoo, igniting it with want. He felt Zero tense like a bow under his hold and continued to torment the sweet patch of skin there with his lips and tongue.

Zero didn't even realize that his eyes were closed until he felt the hot mouth of the Pureblood on his neck. He felt numb and completely at the mercy of the vampire he had been provoking. The Bloody Rose in his hand was now a very heavy weight in his trembling hand and Kaname was pushing his head back using his own to create more room for himself.

Zero's watery eyes met with the cloudy dark sky as Kaname persistently went about his cruel ministrations, causing the heart beat of the hunter accelerate to an unbearable rhythm and his knees to go weak with fear and unwanted pleasure.

"Is this how you see me, Zero?" The use of his name by that utterly devastating voice made Zero whimper despite himself and dropping his gun, his hands flew to Kaname's arms, trying weakly to get away from him.

"You are weak... against this..." Kaname murmured against Zero's jaw line, savoring the taste of the hunter's skin.

"Why..." Zero's voice choked in his throat when he felt the sharp ends of Kaname's fangs on his tattooed skin. But the bite never came. Kaname was teasing him, toying with him.

"Why, you ask..." Kaname murmured languidly into Zero's ear, causing a violent shiver to spread over the hunter's body.

"Aren't I a monster? Aren't I a mindless beast who despairs for a drop of blood?" Came the murmured rebuke. With a hazy mind, Kaname licked the shell of the hunter's ear, desperately wanting to roam his hands over the helplessly enthralled body pressed against him, but he denied himself. This was not about his pleasure... His mind was not ready for it even when his body clearly made its eagerness apparent in the most shameful of ways. He ignored that part of his mind firmly.

"Tell me, Zero... How shall I bite you? Like a beast tearing into the neck of his prey, or... Or like those monsters whom you regard me as one of them?"

Zero whimpered again with the thought, panic rising in his chest, making it harder and harder to breath. "Stop..." He gasped, feeling Kaname's fangs tease his neck again, making him quiver in want and mindless ecstasy. It was unfair... He hated this... He didn't want to be weakened thus just because of the Pureblood's touch even when his mind revolted against it. Just because he was tied to the Pureblood and was attuned to him shouldn't render him this helpless against him, this much vulnerable to his whims. This was cruel beyond words and two drops of hot tears slided down his closed eyes, disappearing in a cold trail.

But Kaname smelled the tears and closed his eyes, stilling his movements. Even though his eyes were a dark liquid tone of crimson by now, he resisted the unbearable call of the hunter's flesh and blood with a tremendous effort and looked at the hunter's face.

"Open your eyes, Zero and look at me." He whispered softly, all ire and anger drained from his voice. He could clearly see the way how Zero struggled to school his face into a mask to not show his fear, his desperation and weak state. Kaname sighed. He squashed the screaming urge to just hug the hunter and say that it was okay for him to yell, for him to feel frightened, cornered; that he would never harm him for the sake of the simple sadistic need to harm him just because Zero thought that he wanted to do so... This was unfair beyond words. The way he felt and the way he was understood were on completely different edges and Kaname felt betrayed by his fate yet again, betrayed by the hunter just because he refused to understand his motives.

Zero slowly opened his wet lavender eyes, hoping against hope that Kaname wouldn't realize that he had been crying because of his fear and the turmoil of emotions that his touch was capable of evoking in his heart.

"Do you see the color of my eyes?" Kaname asked, his face inches away from Zero's. Zero met the Pureblood's eyes which were struck in the most alluring yet frightening hue of scarlet. They were burning with a desire that Zero knew too well himself and was fearful of seeing in Kaname's eyes.

"But I chose to not to bite you..." Kaname murmured firmly, brows furrowed in a slight show of agitation. "Not because I am belittling you by implying that you are at my disposal to do as I pleased with you..."

Kaname clenched his teeth, resisting the urge to say what was actually on his mind.

"But you can find the real reason yourself..." He said, making Zero to immediately think that he was spared only because he was a pawn for Kaname. As if reading this in the hunter's eyes, Kaname added.

"And the reason might not always be the one that comes first to your mind, Zero..."

Zero's eyes widened in surprise, his heart beat picking up again. Only then he realized the position they were in. Kaname was holding him firmly from his upper arms and he was clinging to the Pureblood's chest powerlessly like a lost child. He was actually looking up a little bit to the vampire lord to see his face more clearly, because he was just a tad bit shorter than the Pureblood and his weight seemed too much for his slightly bent weak knees. Zero surprised even himself by blushing and he immediately tried to push the Pureblood away even though he was unsure if his cloudy mind and boneless body would permit him to get away.

"So you think you proved with this that you're different from the others..." He added humorlessly, losing the will to argue further. He just wanted to disappear and never see the enigmatic man before him. A moment ago he was writhing in pleasure and fear in his enemy's arms and the knowledge of it was enough to mortify Zero till death.

"No, look at me!" Kaname didn't relent his hold and forced the hunter to listen to him, bringing him closer to himself again.

Zero looked up at the now maroon eyes hesitantly and saw the seriousness there.

"Have I ever used this weakness of yours to my desire, Zero?" The question fell on Zero like a ton of bricks, his face going even paler and his eyes dilating further.

"I know that you feel as if you are under a spell whenever I do this to you..." And the comment made Zero duck his head in embarrassment and mortification. He struggled against the hold over his arms but Kaname didn't budge.

"Have I ever exploited this, tell me... I have all the means, I have the chance before me, do you think you could have gotten away were I to choose exercising my hold over you? Tell me, Zero... Did I ever treat you as a blood slave?"

Zero was speechless. Kaname was right. The Pureblood didn't choose to treat him like that even when could do so easily...

"Yes, I have used your fear tonight. But you have left me no choice. Probably, in the future I will have to treat you differently before the others... But... Think of the reason." Kaname couldn't bring himself to outright say that he did it for the hunter's safety... Zero was clever enough to find out the reason himself even though his reasoning would probably be wrong. But it was alright as long as Zero understood that he was an irreplaceable ally to him in this game. And an important person in his life. But this would forever remain as a secret in Kaname's mind.

"You didn't see with what kind of a raw hunger they gazed at your blood... You can't even guess how much hatred they brew in them for you... Think of the reason, Zero." He whispered again and slowly, carefully let go of Zero even though his body rebelled against the loss of the warmth.

Zero slumped against the wet wall, suddenly feeling completely drained and defeated. Kaname's words shocked him greatly, his reasoning befuddling his hazy mind. He was still shivering slightly and his rapid breathing still huffing in small fumes in the freezing air. He doggedly refused to remember his embarrassing reactions to what the Pureblood had done to him just a few moments ago. The humiliation was too much to bear and to sort out for his aroused yet at the same time chaotic senses.

He refused to meet the maroon eyes that still gazed down on him under the seemingly perpetual rain.

Kaname started to shiver, too. As if a button was switched off in him, he was feeling strangely strained and his muscles felt lax. Even through all other sensations that had worked havoc upon his mind, Kaname could still feel the longing for the closeness of a few moments ago and for even a taste of the hunter's precious life essence. His eyes clouded with a wistful look and he felt his jaw throb as he clenched it tightly through still elongated fangs.

Zero would never truly understand how much he was putting at stake for his sake. Kaname bitterly wondered if it was worth it for the umpteenth time. If the hunter's begrudgingly bestowed company was worth all these emotional roller coaster up and downs and all the trouble and impeccably devised tests of the Council he was enduring... He wanted to be proven otherwise so much that he finally admitted that he was a complete fool and he should better learn to live with the knowledge.

To break the disturbing silence, Kaname gazed at his watch and inwardly sighed.

"I will phone the family and tell them that you are going to visit them tonight." He informed. When he saw the questioning look in the hunter's eyes, he added. "They would never talk to you unless they were informed otherwise by someone like me."

Zero didn't question him or didn't even make a comeback about the vampires and their pathetic exercise of the class system. He simply nodded and knelt down to take his now completely wet gun. He put it into the holster and watched Kaname as he seemed to get ready to leave him behind.

"Tomorrow, send me a mail about your visit." Kaname demanded, his face and voice now utterly innocuous but at the same time distant and reserved. Just as he was turning his back to the hunter, Zero called him.

"Kuran..." Kaname turned towards him again.

"Never use my first name again." Zero asked without a real spite in his voice. Kaname looked at the silvery eyes with slight irritation.

"That's for me to decide." He derided the hunter and made as if he was leaving again.

Zero narrowed down his eyes in vexation and this time he spoke more clearly and harshly.

"You are doing it to anger me, aren't you? I prefer _Kiryuu_ alone even though I know you use it when you are infuriated. At least that's an emotion I can relate to with equal spite, Kuran. Using one's given name requires more than a few sugar coated exchanges."

Kaname stopped, struck by the implications behind the hunter's words. So his earlier display of honest concern was deemed as a fluke yet again by the hunter... The hunter's name had been pouring down his lips in such a fluid ease that Kaname wasn't even aware of using it. He certainly wasn't using it to spite the hunter, nor he did use it as another form of insult. Now that he thought about it, he had only used it when he felt close to the hunter, when he felt that he was opening up a side of himself which he wanted the hunter to understand and not judge him for.

These misunderstandings and mistrust were getting on his nerves and he felt utterly exhausted of being tested and tried in this way in every corner he took. He simply couldn't care anymore, didn't want to struggle for it anymore.

"So be it, Kiryuu-kun." He relented coldly with remote eyes.

Zero scowled and walked around the Pureblood. He quickly got into his car and started the engine, feeling strangely put out but somehow like a weary victor of a silent war.

And with that insignificant and worthless triumph, Zero drove away, leaving Kaname behind to utter a word silently into the dark, damp emptiness around him.

"Zero..."

_-_

When it started to drizzle softly, Zero didn't even notice. He was speedily driving to the address the Pureblood's file provided him, the rhythmic movements of the windscreen wipers hypnotizing his thoughts.

He was refusing to linger on it as if closing a firm door over what he had experienced back in the Council and with Kaname. Surprisingly, it was a first for him to shut out the thoughts of the Pureblood from his mind this easily. Maybe it was because his mind was not fully ready to comprehend the whole magnitude of his own and Kaname's actions. _There will be time..._ Zero tried to comfort his agitation. _Even though I would never ask for it, there will be time to think over it..._

He drove up to the garish uphills of the city and quickly found the villa he had been looking for. He parked his car just outside the garden gates and taking his folders with him, he got out under the drizzling cold rain.

He gave his name to the staff and was let in immediately since he was expected. The Aldaine family was owning a huge mansion like villa and were apparently rich enough to afford a luxurious life even though they chose a place which was considered as a secluded and a far side of the city.

_Nobility with a French origin... _Zero thought as he was accompanied through European styled, lavish staircases and ornate halls. Before one of the living rooms, he was introduced and he went past the staff member to meet the parents of the victim.

True to his expectations, Zero found a blond couple, eyes the same color of the victim, bright blue. The head of the family, Yamajiro Aldaine greeted him quite formally and icily. Zero couldn't care less since he didn't expect to be greeted otherwise by a Noble. The woman who nodded towards him was a slender one, who looked older than beyond her age. She was still beautiful in that unearthly way of the vampires. But it was apparent in her tired face that she didn't want to be there, or more accurately she didn't want Zero to be there.

Zero could easily relate to the emotion as someone whose family was also killed. Without knowing what he was doing, he formally bowed slightly to the woman and in a hushed tone gave his honest condolences. Vampire or not, death and the loss of a loved one required humble respect in his eyes. Surprisingly to him, the blond woman thanked him with a very faint smile and continued to sit before the blazing fire place.

Zero was taken discreetly by the silent male beside him to the end of the room where they could talk more privately without hurting the mother's feelings.

When they were seated, his host asked him out of formality if he would like a cup of tea. Zero politely refused.

"Aldaine-san, I don't want to bother you more than necessary, so I'd like to just finish this as soon as possible to not bother you further." He spoke in a diplomatic way he acquired thanks to the nature of his job.

Aldaine nodded his head. "Ask what you want to learn, Chief."

Zero drew in a silent breath and started. "Would you tell me about the nature of your daughter's illness?"

Aldaine stiffened a bit but relented hesitatingly. "I suppose you got the authority from the Council... So there is no need to hide it from others any longer." Aldaine started.

"Ayumi had the spinal muscular atrophy. I believe you have already found that out..."

Zero nodded his head. "Are you familiar with this illness, Chief?" Aldaine asked.

"Yes, I am knowledgeable on medicine, Aldaine-san. How severe was your daughter's illness?"

Aldaine paled a bit, eyes hardening. "Ayumi lost her ability to walk around the human age of 8, Chief. She had been on a wheelchair for such a long time that neither her mother nor I clearly remember how she used to walk..."

It was easy to see that talking about this was very hard to the man before him. Zero cringed inside when he realized the irony in the victim's name. Ayumi meant _walk, stroll_... How much more twisted could life be?

"Aldaine-san, you are telling me that she had been on the wheelchair for fourteen years according to the human age. Did she have any other illnesses besides this one?"

"Aldaine shook his head thoughtfully. "No, other than the side illnesses that accompanied to her genetic illness, no..."

"Was she getting medical treatment actively?"

Aldaine shook his head again and Zero's eyes narrowed down. "May I ask why, Aldaine-san?"

The Noble's eyes hardened in an instant, but just before he could utter his refusal, his wife spoke up from her place in front of the fire.

"What was your name again, young man?"

Zero startled at the quality of the soft tone the woman used. He answered before he knew it.

"Kiryuu Zero, _Madame_." The woman smiled softly again at his choice of addressing.

"You seem to be of the Noble caliber if your aura is of any indication... But you are a Level D, aren't you?" She asked whilst she got up from her place and approached them.

Again, much to his surprise, Zero didn't get offended by the _Level D_ remark. He nodded his head.

"Kiryuu-kun, if I may call you so, I assume that you have realized we are of mixed blood." The gentle tone and polite speech the woman was using for him astounded Zero. It was his first time to be treated like this by a higher level vampire and he felt unable to talk. He simply watched her as the beautiful woman sat across from him on another chair and regarded him with weary and gentle eyes.

"Yes, Madame..." He answered.

The woman pointedly ignored the warning glance of his husband and continued, apparently no longer minding Zero's presence even though he was there to ask them about their grave loss and hurt.

"My husband is half Japanese half French and I am French. Our daughter was born when were still residing in France, long long times ago. When she was born, we didn't even understand that she was ill. You know, Kiryuu-kun... The way we vampires regard ourselves as perfect in nature. This folly of us had resulted in a very late diagnosis and when we realized that we had passed Ayumi an incurable illness with our genes, it was too late. Kiryuu-kun, Ayumi had lost the ability to step on her legs when she was 6 and by the time she was 8, her leg muscles were unable to move. When she was 10, she lost the feeling in her legs forever."

She breathed in a deep and shaky breath and continued.

"Those times were very hard... My husband and I did everything our money and love could do for her. But we could only succeed in stopping the advance of the illness further, not cure it. Yet, it wasn't over. Our family was scorned because of our daughter's condition. We became outcasts in our own society there."

"Madeline!" Came the harsh voice of Yamajiro. From the corner of his eye, Zero could see that he was gripping the arm rests of his chair tightly in frustration. But Madeline continued.

"How longer do you think I can hold this inside, Jiro?" She asked sadly, desperately. "It might help this young man if he knew in what kind of a society we have suffered our way."

The man rose one of his hands to his face in agitation and conceded with a tired nod of his head.

"We were proud of her, Kiryuu-kun. How can a parent wouldn't be of their child?" Madeline continued. "But everyone saw her as dirty, faulty and as a freak of the nature... When she started to get affected by it, too, we moved here in hopes of giving her a new environment where she could go out, study and be herself without feeling shame for her condition."

"But this country and its capital city is no different from France. Here, we became outcasts again. The Council of the capital ordered us to never speak of her condition, never use any vampire hospitals for her regular check ups and never let her go to the schools owned by vampire lords here. We were devastated."

Now there was a bright sheen of tears in her eyes, but she strongly refused to shed them as Zero felt something in him start to rage and boil yet again.

"But Ayumi liked this place, she wanted to study arts... We have taught her how to mask her aura and sent her to a human university where she could study freely. Everything was perfect for her until she was gone missing."

"Is this the reason why your family registry was not in the vampire data bases of any kind, Madame?" Zero asked, face paled, brows furrowed in concentration.

"Yes, Kiryuu-kun. And we couldn't place a missing report because of it... By laws, we aren't existing here." Her head was bowed down and her eyes were downcast as she added. "Because Ayumi was registered as the daughter of a deceased human family thanks to the helps of our Family Leader."

"And who are they, may I ask?"

"Laudor de Radulf-sama." Yamajiro provided.

Zero didn't recognize the name immediately since he had never wanted to acquaint himself with the names of all other purebloods of the capital city. There were many, to his knowledge, at least twenty. But the surname Radulf sounded familiar. He had to check on it later.

"It is thanks to him that my husband maintained his business ties and provided her the care and money that her illness demanded." Madeline added.

"Madame, when and how your daughter disappeared, could you tell me?"

Madeline gripped her skirt tightly upon the question to hide the shaking in her hands, Zero could see.

"Four days before... Before the Council noticed us that she was found dead in a... in..." She couldn't continue around the lump in her throat and her husband told the rest.

"She used to go to her classes with her chauffeur in the evenings. She was taking the evening courses. Four days before her death, her chauffeur reported us that she didn't call him to tell that her classes were over. We searched the whole campus, asked every one of her friends, but they told us that at one point during their long break, she had disappeared and didn't come back. They told us that they thought her chauffeur had come and taken her. We called her cell but it was closed. And after four days, we learned from the Council that she was murdered... like that... found like a... mermaid..."

The man bowed his golden head and sighed. Zero couldn't bring himself to watch the sight, so he looked at his hands and remembered the date of the puzzle-like letter that the Bureau received last week. It was received one day after the disappearance of the girl.

"Do you think that she had a friend that you don't know about?" He asked and received negative shakes of heads from both parents.

"Aldaine-san, do you have any enemies?"

Aldaine thought for a moment tiredly. "Business related rivals, yes; but no one that I can label as an enemy."

"Who else did know that she was a vampire and was also ill?"

"No one, except the ones in the Council and our Family Leader... The other acquaintances of ours think that we are human."

Zero caught himself before he sighed in exasperation. Another question came to his mind.

"Did your daughter use any medicine that kept her blood flow and blood pressure at a high level which by any chance included some substance that causes excretion of high levels of endorphine and adrenaline?"

Madeline thoughtfully looked at him with doubt in her eyes.

"Kiryuu-kun, would it be of any help if I gave you the list of the medicines that she was prescribed?"

"Please do so, Madame."

And she slowly exited the room to prepare it. Zero turned to Yamajiro with hard eyes.

"Aldaine-san, could you send me the names of all your vampire acquaintances and the friends, teachers and doctors of your daughter tomorrow?"

The man nodded solemnly.

"And may I require your permission to send a team from the Bureau to inspect your daughter's documents?"

Aldaine bowed his head, distaste clear in his face.

"I promise you that they will be delicate and very thoughtful in what they will do." Zero tried to assure and the man relented.

Madeline returned with the list and gave it to the hunter, grief radiating from her frail body.

Before he finished the conversation, Zero wanted to ask one more thing.

"Aldaine-san, you told me that only a particular selection from the vampire community here knew your secret about your daughter's condition. Is this really true as far as you could tell?"

Madeline returned her place and smiled a little, rueful smile.

"Young man, even though this is the capital city, and only the elites of it are officially aware of Ayumi's condition, I doubt that there is a soul in the vampire community who wasn't suspicious about it. That's why we are outcasts, we chose to stay away from the society to keep Ayumi safe and we chose this secluded side of the city. In fact, we heard rumors about there being many more young people with different kinds of genetic diseases here in this country."

Yamajiro nodded his head. "Just as we kept it as a secret from the others, we believe there are others who have their own secrets. What we do is to ignore them and they to ignore us. That's all there is to it."

This time Zero openly sighed. "Does the Council force it?"

Madeline gazed into his silvery eyes in which a deeply rooted anger swirled.

"It is partly that, partly our society's strictness and obsession of perfection."

Zero bit his lip thoughtfully, by now his frown became a permanent one on his pale face. He got up and thanked the couple for their help and the patience.

The last surprise of the night was when Madeline insisted to escort him out personally. Zero trailed behind the tall yet fragile looking elegant woman and when he was standing outside of the entrance, Madeline gently reached to him.

"I want to show you something, young man." She said and without any alarm bells ringing in his senses, Zero let the woman touch his hand with her two fingers.

The touch lasted only a second but in his mind's eye, Zero saw the smiling Ayumi when she was around 10 years old. And her merry voice ringed in his ears, "Okaa-sama..."

Shocked to the core, Zero jerked back a little, overwhelmed by the depth of emotion that flowed into him from the simple touch.

"I am terribly sorry if I frightened you, Kiryuu-kun." She softly apologized, bowing her head a bit. "I just wanted you to see her through my power... Feel how I feel..."

Zero, trembled with the intensity of the experience, his eyes suddenly stung despite himself. He couldn't believe that he was on the verge of sobbing because of the pain he tasted in the woman's touch.

"Forgive my boldness." She amended again, surprising Zero with her very human-like behavior and kindness. "But I had seen a similar pain in your eyes and thought that you would understand me. After all, I am just a mother..."

Zero swallowed and without even thinking about feeling breeched or offended in anyway, without even thinking that it was utterly, unforgivably foolish of him to do so, he tried to smile assuringly.

"I understand, Madame..." And he bowed his head in salutation before he added, "And I will do my best."

Madeline watched him go hastily, also saddened for him for his loss of family that she saw in her mind through the touch.

Zero disappeared under the silently falling strings of rain drops, his head suspiciously bowed and his fists clenched by his sides.

The world was a cruel place and Madeline hoped that the constant rain would be able to wash that harsh cruelty away even a bit for the young man with whom she had shared her despair even though he was a total stranger and a lower level vampire.

She thought that race and class didn't matter a bit when the hearts were burdened with the same pain.

-

_TBC...._

_**EN: **The chapter title is from the play, Hamlet, taken from Hamlet's monologue:_

"Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave, That I, the son of a dear father murdered, Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must like a whore unpack my heart with words And fall a-cursing like a very drab, _A stallion! Fie upon't, foh! About, my brains."_ _Review XD_


End file.
